Boy, 4, saved by ‘Spider-Man’ in Paris had already fallen 15ft from the floor ABOVE before clinging to the balcony below, as mother says she’s not angry at her husband for leaving child ‘to play Pokemon Go’

• Child seen outside apartment on Rue Marx-Dormoy while ‘father was shopping’
• Neighbour tried to reach child from adjacent balcony in 18th arrondissement
• Mamoudou Gassama, 22, then scaled the block in 30 seconds to rescue boy, 4  
• He had already fallen 15ft from another balcony above before he was rescued
• Gassama to be made a French citizen and will be handed a job in the fire brigade

A boy left hanging off a Paris balcony before being rescued by a hero immigrant climber dubbed ‘Spider-Man’ had already fallen from the floor above, it emerged today.

The four-year-old clambered over the front of the first balcony and then dropped some 15ft on to another ledge below, an investigating source said.

He somehow ended up dangling off the second balcony before being saved by hero Mamoudou Gassama who was filmed scaling the side of the building to reach the child.

The twist in the saga came as the unnamed child’s father was threatened with two years in prison. He was out shopping and then playing video games on Saturday evening – so leaving his son alone on a balcony in the French capital’s 18th arrondissement.

It comes as members of the boy’s family hailed ‘hero’ Gassama for his bravery – but the child’s mother did not blame her husband for what happened.

 

It was soon after 8pm that the child, who was wearing Spider-Man flip-flops, climbed over the front of the balcony and then dropped on to the front ledge of the balcony below.

‘How he didn’t keep falling at this point is beyond belief,’ said an investigating source. ‘Instead he seemed to stick to the side of the building, like another little Spider-Man’.

It was at this point that a crowd began gathering below, and hero climber Mamoudou Gassama scaled the building in under 30 seconds.

An astonishing video shows the Malian getting up to the boy, grabbing him by the left arm, and then pulling him to safety while another man on a balcony next door desperately tried to reach the youngster.

Today, the mystery neighbour confirmed the little boy had fallen from the fifth to the fourth floor of the building. The man, who has not been named, can be seen in the video grabbing the boy just before Gassama arrived.

‘The little lad was bleeding from the toes, and had lost a nail,’ the neighbour told Le Parisien newspaper.

He added: ‘The boy was very brave as he had fallen from the floor above, before catching the balcony just below!’

Asked why he had not simply climbed over the partitions between the two balconies, and lifted the boy to safety himself, the man said: ‘Given the configuration of the balcony, I couldn’t lift him. I didn’t want to risk letting go of his hand, I preferred to move slowly.’

Referring to Mr Gassama, the neighbour said: ‘When I arrived on my balcony, he was already climbing, he was so fast.’

After the drama, all involved – Mr Gassama, the neighbour, and the boy – had a drink and ate something before emergency workers arrived.

‘Mamoudou was very tired and didn’t say much, he was still in shock,’ said the neighbour. ‘I hope to see Mamoudou again so as to congratulate him on his feat, which we accomplished together.’

On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron invited Mr Gassama to the Elysee Palace, where he announced that the immigrant to France was to be made a citizen, and to get a job in the Paris fire service.

 

Meanwhile, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the boy’s 36-year-old father was on bail, and facing a charged of ‘failing in the legal obligations of a parent’ – an offense punishable by up to two years in prison.

He will next appear in court on September 25, while the boy remains in the custody of his mother on Reunion island, the French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean. None of the family can be named for legal reasons.

Mr Molins said: ‘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.’