Mamoudou Gassama

Mamoudou Gassama (born 1996, also known as Spider-Man of Paris) The child’s father had apparently left the boy unattended to go shopping, and was subsequently charged with leaving his son unsupervised.

Aftermath Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called Gassama "Spider-Man of the 18th" in reference to the city’s 18th arrondissement (district) where the rescue took place. On 28 May 2018, President Emmanuel Macron met Gassama at the Élysée Palace to thank him personally. He was awarded the Médaille d’honneur pour acte de courage et de dévouement and offered a role in the fire service which he subsequently took up. At the instigation of President Macron, Gassama was made a French citizen in September 2018.

Personal life Gassama was born in Yaguine, Mali. In 2013, he travelled to Europe via Burkina Faso, Niger and Libya, where he was arrested and beaten. While crossing the Mediterranean, he was picked up by a rescue ship as part of Operation Mare Nostrum and obtained papers to stay legally in Italy. After spending some years in a refugee accommodation in Castelnuovo di Porto, during which time he completed training as a pizza maker, he travelled to France in September 2017 to join his elder brother. News reports emphasized the similarity between Gassama and Lassana Bathily, a Muslim immigrant from Mali who was hailed as a hero in France and offered citizenship for his bravery in the Hypercacher kosher supermarket siege of 2015.

As of July 2018, Gassama was working as a firefighter in the Paris fire brigade.

In 2021, three years after the rescue that made him famous, Mamoudou Gassama alternated between unemployment and precarious work, particularly in households. Considering himself poorly surrounded, he was unable to carry out several projects close to his heart—making a film, writing a book, and founding an association raising awareness among young Malians of the dangers of migration via the Mediterranean. He lives in Montreuil in accommodation offered by the town hall.

Popular Media

A story about Mamoudou Gassama's courageous act was featured on the TV Documentary The Proof Is Out There.