Spider-Man of Paris

About

Spider-Man of Paris refers to a viral video of a man named Mamoudou Gassama who scaled the side of an apartment building to save a four-year-old child dangling from a balcony.

Origin

On May 26th, 2018, a video of Mamoudou Gassama climbing the side of an apartment building to rescue a four-year-old child who was seen dangling from a high-rise balcony was posted to Snapchat (mirror below). Later that day, Facebook ^[1] user BiboLOfficiel posted the video, where it received more than 300,000 shares, 69,000 reactions and 15 million views.

Spread

The following day, on May 27th, Twitter ^[2] user @FredBC77 shared the video. Within three days, the post received more than 8,600 retweets and 23,000 likes.

That day, Redditor ^[3] Pionnier1313 posted the video on the /r/videos subreddit. The post (shown below) received more tahn 3,100 points (92% upvoted) and 420 comments.

That day, the Mayor of Paris tweeted,^[4] "Congratulations to Mamoudou Gassama for his act of bravery that saved the life of a child last night. I had the pleasure of talking with him today by phone, to thank him warmly." The post (shown below, left) received more than 3,200 retweets and 6,500 likes in three days.

On May 28th, French President Emmanuel Macron posted a photograph of himself meeting with Gassama on Instagram. ^[5] He added the comment, "With Mr. GASSAMA who saved Saturday the life of a child climbing 4 floors with bare hands. I announced to him that in recognition of this heroic act he would be regularized as soon as possible, and that the brigade of the firemen of Paris was ready to receive it. I also invited him to apply for naturalization. Because France is a will, and Mr. GASSAMA has demonstrated with commitment that he had it!" The post (shown below, right) received more than 110,000 likes in two days.

Macron also awarded Gassama, a migrant from Mali, with French citizenship and a job as a firefighter.

That day, Redditor^[6] GallowBoob posted a picture of Gassama holding his honors in the /r/pics subreddit. The post (shown below) received more than 80,000 points (79% upvoted) and 2,500 comments.

On May 29th, CNN^[11] reported that the child was left alone because the father was playing Pokémon Go!.

Several media outlets covered story, including the Guardian,^[7] BuzzFeed, ^[8] The New York Times,^[9] Esquire^[10] and more.

Citizenship

On September 13th, 2018, in a official decree by the French government, Gassama was granted French citizenship. The decree read, "his act of great bravery exemplifies the values which help unite our national community, such as courage, selflessness, altruism and taking care of the most vulnerable."^[12]

Twitter^[13] user @SamanthaSwords wrote, "Since the Revolution, a law that gave French citizenship to those 'who by their writings and their courage have served the cause of freedom'. In a post mass-migration world, Mamoudou Gassama’s heroism still qualifies. #spiderman." The tweet (shown below) received more than 40 retweets and 200 likes in 24 hours.

Search Interest

External References