It’s been revealed how the four-year-old boy saved by Mamadou Gassama last Saturday, (May 26) ended up in a life-threatening situation in the first place.
The heroic exploits of Mamadou Gassama (aka Le Spiderman) were deservedly praised after he scaled a four storey apartment building to save the life of a boy who was dangling off a balcony. But the biggest mystery was how the kid got himself into such a dangerous predicament.
Allegedly it was all because of a game of Pokemon Go!.
I knew Pokemon Go! was going to put someone in danger – no one believed me, they just thought I was being overly apocalyptic but I was proven right.
According to the Mirror, the boy’s father (both of whom have not been named since the incident) was out trying to catch fictitious Japanese pocket monsters while his son was clinging on for dear life on a fourth-floor balcony.
Luckily for both father and son, Gassama was there to make sure the boy didn’t fall to an almost certain death.
Speaking to French news channel BFMTV Paris prosecutor Francois Molins, revealed:
The father left the flat just as the incident was unfolding. He went shopping and then decided to play Pokemon Go in the street which took a little time before he returned home.
The father is very upset because he realises what he did and what could have happened.
You can watch Gassama’s impressive efforts in the clip below:
Quel courage .. bravo à ce jeune homme pour cet acte héroïque 👏🏼
Posted by Habib Bibou on Saturday, 26 May 2018
Reports say the father has been told to appear in court in December where could face up to two years in jail for failing to care for a child under French Law.
On Monday (May 29) 22-year-old Mamadou Gassama was praised and honoured for his exploits after he scaled the apartment block in Paris with his bare hands, risking his own life in order to save the four-year-old boy.
Gassama, who arrived in Paris via Mali a few months ago, met with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday, (May 28) at the Elysee Palace, to be personally commend for his efforts.
Macron thanked Gassama and said he would be made a naturalised citizen. Macron also said he would be given a role as a volunteer firefighter.
This is Mamoudou Gassama, a Malian immigrant meeting w/ French president Macron, as he was being offered a French citizenship and a job with the fire brigade.Mamoudou heroically saved a 4-yr old boy hanging off a balcony of a four storey building in Paris. Beauty of Selflessness. pic.twitter.com/SygVxonn7J
— Khalid,TheWakaholic 🇳🇬 (@dr_khalidz) May 28, 2018
It took Gassama mere seconds to reach the child in a rescue captured on film.
By the time he reached the fourth floor, he was able to pull himself over the other side and safely secure the child – all before the emergency services arrived.
Speaking to BFMTV he explained he only reacted on instinct when he saw the youngster in peril, saying:
I did not think, I saved him. When I took him in my arms, I spoke with him and asked: ‘Why did you do that?
But he did not answer.
When Gassama was tracked down by reporters, he recalled:
I saw all these people shouting and cars sounding their horns. I climbed up like that and, thank God, I saved the child.
I felt afraid when I saved the child … [when] we went into the living room, I started to shake, I could hardly stand up, I had to sit down.
22-year-old Mamoudou clearly has the credentials to make a great protector of the people!
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