Paris hero who ‘didn't think' before saving 4 children from apartment fire lauded by Macron, honored with medal
Footage shared on TikTok shows Fousseynou Cissé balancing on a narrow ledge outside a burning apartment, urging those trapped inside to pass their children to him as smoke billowed through the shuttered windows. He first helps two infants reach a nearby window before assisting others to safety.
4 A Paris hero was celebrated with a medal and praised by French President Emmanuel Macron
after saving four children from an apartment fire.
@diya.pcsso via Storyful
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French newspaper Le Parisian said the 39-year-old received a phone call from Macron praising his actions and was expected to be formally honored by the city.
'We must have spoken for a minute or two. I had goosebumps,' Cissé said.
Cissé had already left the building with his wife and child when a frantic neighbor told him two families were trapped on the top floor.
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4 Fousseynou Cissé said he 'didn't think' before jumping in to save the trapped families.
BFMTV
'I didn't ask myself the question. There were lives at stake, I didn't calculate,' Cissé told Le Parisian on Sunday.
He bolted to another neighboring apartment and stood on a thin rail connecting the two homes — risking a 65-foot drop.
The mothers gingerly handed the four children off to him one at a time. Once they were safe, Cissé helped the mothers out and all seven of them safely reached the ground as the building kept burning.
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4 One of the rescued mothers said she saw herself 'dying with [her] children' before Cissé saved them.
@diya.pcsso via Storyful
One of the rescued mothers told the outlet that she originally saw herself 'dying with [her] children' as the fire raged on until Cissé came to the rescue.
A dozen other residents in the building were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, the outlet reported.
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said that he plans to award Cissé with a medal 'in recognition of his courage and dedication' on July 13.
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4 Cissé was personally thanked by Macron and other officials have suggested honoring him
with the Medal of the City of Paris.
@diya.pcsso via Storyful
'This medal recognizes republican courage that commands admiration,' Nuñez wrote on X.
Others have pushed for Cissé to be given the city's highest honor, including the Medal of the City of Paris, French Socialist politician Emmanuel Grégoire suggested.
The coveted city medal is awarded to outstanding people nominated by the Council of Paris and other administrations. In the past, it's been awarded to American icons like Michael Jackson and Toni Morrison.
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