[5] 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.
He crossed the Mediterranean and obtained papers to stay legally in Italy, but travelled to France in September 2017 to join his elder brother.
[12] 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.
[3] However, he was not able to continue his experience within the Paris fire brigade, having not obtained the college certificate and suffering from a pathology incompatible with the profession of firefighter.
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.