Acts of heroism are a tonic to stifling ‘elf and safety’ culture
When 22-year-old Mamoudou Gassama ran to scale the side of a Parisian building to effect a fourthfloor rescue of a child dangling from a balcony, he was hailed as “Spiderman” and a hero. The Malian migrant’s unselfish act of gallantry won him not only praise, but French nationality, a trip to the Elysée Palace and the offer of a job as a fireman.
Could any of that have happened here in the UK? First, it would require a politician to make a same-day decision. Second, the public debate would surely take issue with the president’s choice of language – any elected politician in this country would be lucky to keep their job long if they used the term “fireman” (the BBC baulked at reporting President Macron’s actual words and said Mr Gassama was offered a job in the Fire Service). Third, would our political leaders want such a person as a firefighter? Our firemen are indeed brave and agile, but often in spite of the enormous power of our bureaucracy. Surely the “elf and safety” tsars in this country would be aghast if any firefighter took such unauthorised risks as free-climbing a building to save a child.
Luckily Mr Gassama
– who braved the ordeal of crossing the Mediterranean in 2014, an undertaking which requires great fearlessness and singlemindedness – used some very uncommon common sense and a huge deal of physical agility backed by raw courage to figure out what to do. With all the angst in this world, it is a breath of fresh air that such acts of gallantry happen – and a reminder, hopefully, that all of us are capable of more than we know.
I write as a former soldier, and spontaneous acts of gallantry are not unknown in the military, of course. I recall one of my colleagues, Ken Mcgonigle, who was acting as a mentor to the Afghan Police Special Branch in Musa Quala when he was alerted to the presence of a terrorist with a rocket launcher, in the act of downing a US Marine helicopter with an American Vice Admiral on board. Ken took on the terrorist – saving the helicopter and the passengers, but at the cost of his own life. He was awarded a posthumous Queen’s Gallantry Medal.
But against all odds, even ordinary civilians do this stuff too. Every terrorist attack throws them up: in the London Bridge atrocity, it was the HSBC worker who used his skateboard to beat a knife-wielding terrorist off a woman, losing his own life in the process; in the Westminster Bridge attacks it was the minister Tobias Ellwood tending to the wounded PC Keith Palmer. There are those who donate a kidney to a stranger; the countless good Samaritans who assist in road traffic accidents, or volunteer to run sports or lead Scouts – those who give freely of their time to improve the lives of others.
This sort of gallantry is not uncommon but it is rare to see it writ as large as we saw in Paris. The actions of Mr Gassama are a real inspiration, and have rightly been trumpeted across the world. That a young man would undertake such a daring rescue is one thing, but for a displaced person – against whom life has dealt many blows – to display such an act of humanity and courage must surely remind us that we are all the same, notwithstanding the colour of our skin, our beliefs or our immigration status.
Mr Gassama thanked God for giving him the strength to rescue the little four-yearold. We should all join the boy’s father in thanking God for Mr Gassama and his great heart.