Student who walks 20 miles to work on his first day gets rewarded with a brand new car

Imagine it's the night before your first day at a brand new job, but there's one problem - your car has just broken down. What would you do?

If unable to arrange a lift, most people would call in and let their boss know that they don't have a way of getting to work, and then they'd stay at home.

This situation, however, wasn't going to stop 20-year-old student Walter Carr from arriving at his first day of work for removals company Bellhops, in the town of Pelham, more than 20 miles away from his home in Homeward, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.

After checking his phone and seeing that the walk would take more than seven hours, Carr had a nap at home, then set out to work at 11:40pm on Friday night. After hours of walking, he arrived in Pelham at 4:00am on Saturday morning, but he still had a long way to go before arriving at the home of the woman he was due to do the removal for.

When undertaking one of his nightly rounds, Pelham police officer Mark Knighten spotted Carr while he was resting at the side of the road to see what was going on. After the event, he commented:

Less than a minute from hearing his story, we were like, wow, this kid seems determined.

Knighten and his two partners got Walter breakfast and lunch to go, as well as dropping him at a church to rest before his shift, which started at 8am.

Another officer then dropped him at the house of Jenny Lamey, where he was due for work, who was so impressed by Walter that she shared her thoughts in a Facebook post that has now been shared 1,500 times:

I just can’t tell you how touched I was by Walter and his journey.

He is humble and kind and cheerful and he had big dreams!

He is hardworking and tough.

I can’t imagine how many times on that lonely walk down 280 in the middle of the night did he want to turn back.

How many times did he wonder if this was the best idea.

How many times did he want to find a place to sit or lie down and wait til morning when he could maybe get someone to come pick him up and bring him back home.

But he walked until he got here! I am in total awe of this young man! 

When his employer found out about the dedication that Carr had shown to his work, he decided that he had to be rewarded.

Speaking to CNN, Bellhops CEO Luke Marklin said:

We are a company that is trying to change a broken, not customer-friendly industry.

We're trying to transform that with a lot of heart and a lot of grit.

And when I read that story on Sunday I was blown away, and I couldn't think of a better story of what this company is all about.

Because a car was the only thing stopping Walter being able to perform in the company, he decided to give it to him.

He continued:

It seemed like the car was going to be put to a lot better use,

He's just awesome. He's our role model.

This isn't Carr's first heroic act. During the devastating hurricane of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, him and his mother lost their home when floods destroyed their home in New Orleans, meaning they had to move to Birmingham and set up a new life.

Reflecting on his actions, in an interview with USA TodayCarr remained humble.

I've never been that person that gives up. 

I've just never seen myself doing that.

I can only be defeated if I allow myself to be defeated.

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