Hero Who Scaled Building Like Spider-Man to Rescue Child to Be Granted French Citizenship

With great power comes great responsibility — and sometimes, a great and fitting reward.

Mamoudou Gassama, a 22-year-old Malian migrant living in France, recently proved himself to be a real-life Spider-Man when he scaled the side of a building without any special equipment to save the life of a young child who was dangling from the edge of a fourth-floor balcony. The heroic act was caught on video and it quickly went viral on social media.

The boy, who had been left home alone by his father who was allegedly playing Pokemon Go at the time of the incident, was unharmed thanks to Gassama’s act. Now, Gassama’s selfless act of heroism is being rewarded with French citizenship. According to the BBC, Gassama met with French President Emmanuel Macron who personally thanked Gassama, awarded him a medal for courage, and also offered the hero a job in the nation’s fire service.

Gassama is said to have arrived in France last year after a long, dangerous journey to Europe by boat across the Mediterranean to Italy. He told Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo that he dreamed of building a new life for himself in Paris so being granted citizenship for his heroic act is a fitting reward, though by his own admission Gassama — who is now being called “Spider-Man of the 18th” in reference to the district the rescue happened in — wasn’t thinking about rewards or even the dangers of his actions. He told Macron he simply saw the child in danger and knew what he had to do.

“I just didn’t have time to think, I ran across the road to go and save him,” Gassama said. “I just climbed up and thank God. God helped me. The more I climbed the more I had the courage to climb up higher, that’s it.”

Spoken like a true hero.