I feel joy, pride, and relief." This is what Fousseynou Cissé said after being awarded the Gold Medal for Courage and Devotion on Sunday, July 13, by Paris Police Prefect Laurent Nunez. On July 4, the 39-year-old Senegalese man risked his life to save a family from a burning building in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.

"I am moved and honored. I didn't expect to be called a hero or a star; I'm just an ordinary person," he told French TV channel TF1.

Fousseynou Cissé also received a call from President Emmanuel Macron congratulating him on his heroic act. "I wanted to express our gratitude for your courage and the families you saved," the head of state said, and he also invited the Senegalese man to attend the July 14 parade from the grandstand with his family.

Fousseynou Cissé, who has a residence permit for private and family life, is employed on a limited contract as a receptionist in schools of the City of Paris. His administrative status previously prevented him from being hired by the city hall.

But the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has decided to grant him permanent employment "in the coming days." The mayor made this announcement as she presented him with the Grand Vermeil medal of the City of Paris on July 10, in front of his loved ones. "His incredible heroic act, his extraordinary courage and composure have deeply moved us all," the mayor wrote on her Instagram account.

'I didn't stop to think'

On Friday, July 4, around 5 pm, a fire broke out in a building on Rue de la Chapelle, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Two families found themselves trapped in a burning apartment on the sixth and top floor.

Their neighbor, Fousseynou Cissé, immediately left his apartment and sat on a zinc ledge between two windows. Twenty meters from the ground, the Senegalese man pulled out two babies aged 5 and 15 months, two children aged 9 and 11, and two mothers.

"These people were in danger, I didn't stop to think," Fousseynou Cissé told InfoMigrants the day after this heroic act. "It was only when I watched the footage that I realized I was also in a very dangerous position."

Without the help of the 30-year-old father of two, the rescued people would surely have "died of asphyxiation," a neighbor told the daily newspaper Le Parisien. The Paris prosecutor's office reported that 10 residents of the building were taken to hospital care, suffering from smoke inhalation.