Malian national Mamoudou Gassama has returned home after receiving global recognition for saving a toddler on a building in France.
The migrant became famous last month when he climbed a building in Paris to save the baby he barely knows.
Mamoudou Gassama met the President of France Emmanuel Macron when a Video showing him risking his life to rescue the four-year-old went viral.
He was given residence papers to regularize his stay in France but he has now returned to Mali.
He told the BBC that he is “so happy. I am so very, very happy because everyone came to meet me at the airport and then I saw my father and I saw all the members of my family. I hadn’t seen my father for nine years.”
How he got to France
Mr Gassama, 22 traveled to France like all other illegal migrants from Africa seeking greener pastures in Europe.
He crossed the Mediterranean on a migrant boat in 2014 to join his brother in France. He has been living in France as a migrant working on building sites.
Héros d’un jour à #Bamako #Mali#Mamoudou Gassama pic.twitter.com/b0EDYi0r12
— MaîtreMahamane Cisse (@maitremahamane) June 16, 2018
His breakthrough
Gassama on 26 May was filmed climbing a building to rescue the toddler who was hanging from the balcony of a fourth-floor Paris apartment block.
His video went viral with many calling him a “Spiderman” for the manner inwhich he rescued the baby.
Gassama said he ‘’wasn’t afraid. I am like anyone else. Yes, I showed courage. It came from God. God saved me.’’
He will start working with Paris fire brigade next week as part of his reward.
‘’I have done the medical checks. I shall sign my contract on the 28th. Then I shall be in training for 10 months,” Gassama told BBC.
Gassama comes from a village near Kayes in western Mali. He is in Mali to meet President Ibrahim Boubakar Keita.
Source: Africafeeds.com
