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President Macron has offered French citizenship to a young Malian migrant for this heroic act
President Emmanuel Macron invited Gassama to the Elysee Palace on Monday, where he was given a certificate and a gold medal for performing an act of courage and dedication. Gassama told Macron: "I didn't think about it, I climbed up and God helped me."
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According to French reportage, Mamoudou Gassama took just seconds to reach the child in a rescue captured on film and viewed millions of times on social networks.
Before the country's rescue agency came to the scene Mamoudou had saved the situation already.
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The African migrant will be made a French citizen and has been offered a job by the Paris fire brigade, the office of the French presidency said.
Mamadou told the French president Emmanuel Macron that on reaching the apartment, he became scared and started shaking.
"Speaking to CNN-affiliate BFM TV after the rescue, Gassama said he had been in the neighborhood to watch a football match in a local restaurant when he saw the commotion."I like children, I would have hated to see him getting hurt in front of me. I ran and I looked for solutions to save him and thank God I scaled the front of the building to the balcony," he said.
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According to initial inquiries by the authorities, the child’s parents were not at home at the time. The father was later held for questioning by police for having left his child unattended and was due in court later, a judicial source said. The child’s mother was not in Paris at the time.
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