Just like pretty much everyone in France—and many around the world—President Emmanuel Macron was highly impressed by 22-year-old Mamoudou Gassama. Video that quickly went viral over the weekend showed how Gassama, a Malian migrant, went into action and scaled four floors of an apartment building in Paris’ northern 18th district Saturday evening in mere seconds to rescue a four-year-old child who was dangling from a balcony.

Paris : à mains nues, un homme a escaladé la façade d’un immeuble du 18ᵉ arrondissement pour sauver un enfant de 4 ans suspendu dans le vide. Les parents de l'enfant n'étaient pas présents, une enquête a été ouverte, son père a été placé en garde à vue (LCI). pic.twitter.com/RpnehgPuCr — Infos Françaises (@InfosFrancaises) May 27, 2018

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called Gassama the “Spider-Man of the 18th” on social media. Later, Hidalgo wrote that she had talked to Gassman on the phone. “He explained to me that he arrived from Mali a few months ago with the dream of making a life for himself here,” she wrote on Twitter. “I replied that his heroic act is an example for all citizens and that the city of Paris will obviously be keen to support him in his efforts to settle in France.”

Cet homme aussi téméraire que courageux a sauvé la vie d’un enfant au péril de la sienne. Je souhaiterais, comme nombre de Parisiens, savoir qui est le Spiderman du 18ème pour le féliciter.

👉 https://t.co/nagKekpL9O — Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) May 27, 2018

Un grand bravo à Mamoudou Gassama pour son acte de bravoure qui a permis de sauver hier soir la vie d'un enfant. J'ai eu plaisir à m'entretenir avec lui aujourd'hui par téléphone, afin de le remercier chaleureusement. https://t.co/DP5vQ1VZYh — Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) May 27, 2018

Macron invited Gassama to the Élysée Palace for a sit-down on Monday and promised him documents that would allow him to stay in the country. Gassama said he had papers to legally stay in Italy but wants to be with his older brother who has lived in France for years. “I just didn’t have time to think, I ran across the road to go and save him,” Gassama told Macron. “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.” The child’s father was allegedly out shopping when the incident took place and is now being investigated for neglect. The child’s mother was reportedly not in Paris at the time of the incident.

Avec M. GASSAMA qui a sauvé samedi la vie d’un enfant en escaladant 4 étages à mains nues. Je lui ai annoncé qu’en reconnaissance de cet acte héroïque il allait être régularisé dans les plus brefs délais, et que la brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris était prête à l’accueillir. pic.twitter.com/xMpFlP1UFe — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 28, 2018

“You saved a child. Without you, no one knows what would have become of him,” the French president said. “You need courage and the capability to do that.” Macron awarded Gassama a gold medal from the French state for his “courage and devotion” and offered him a job as a firefighter. The French president is in the process of tightening the country’s immigration laws and he denied there was any contradiction between that and awarding Gassama citizenship. “An exceptional act does not make policy,” he told reporters.