Walter Carr was supposed to start at a new job as a mover 20 miles away from his home, near Birmingham, Alabama. However, a day before, his car broke down.
He asked for help from his friends because he was in need of a ride, but no one answered. He was determined not to miss out on his first day at work as part of the Bellhops company.
The 20-year-old Carr needed the job a lot and he knew the only remaining option was to walk to work.
Never did he imagine that his boss would do an amazing thing for him on the first day.
Carr Decides to Walk 20 Miles to Work: It Took Him 8 Hours
After checking out the route on Google Maps, he realized that he’ll need eight hours to get there. But, as a former high school cross-country runner, Carr was confident he could get there quicker.
At 8 pm, Carr ate eggs and bologna and took a short nap. He set his alarm for midnight and woke up right away. He took his phone, wallet, a baseball, and a kitchen knife that would help him in the case of stray dogs.
He went out in the dark. Several hours into his walk to work, he came across a stray dog. He threw the ball and the dog went after it. Carr went the other way.
Carr walked and jogged and when he felt his legs were burning, he would keep going because he was really focused. He later said how everything he could think about was getting to his first day in time.
In the past, he worked as a cook at various fast-food restaurants, but his new job paid better and he needed the money because he rented a new apartment.
Around 4 am, he was at Pelham, but still had several more hours to get to the house. Before he entered the highway ramp, he sat down a bit at the bank parking. He had to rest because his legs were really painful.
One police car pulled up and the officer asked Carr if everything was all right. Carr explained what was going on and what he was doing.
The officer asked Carr if he ate and Carr told him about his last meal that was hours ago. He had no cash on him so the officer told him to get in the car and that this meal will be on him.
Together with some other officers, they went to Whataburger and Carr ordered a chicken biscuit.
Knighten drove Carr several miles towards his job and left him at a church. The officer had to leave because his shift was near the end, but he told Carr that another officer will come within several hours and offer him a ride.
Carr Finally Arrives at Work
Carr couldn’t wait any longer because it was around 5:30 so he head out. Another officer saw him on the road and gave him a ride. These were the last four miles to Carr’s job. He was there at 6:30 am.
The officer explained to the homeowner, one Jenny Lamey, what happened. The woman was in tears. She offered Carr a nap and some food to which he replied that he would rather get started with work.
He got along with the two other co-workers and Lamey said how Carr is an amazing person who’s raised well and an example that you can do everything if you set your mind to it.
Carr Gets an Unbelievable Surprise
The day after, Lamey was on the phone with Carr’s supervisor and both were brought to tears by what Carr did. Lamey decided to share the story on Facebook and also opened up a GoFundMe page with a $2000 goal that would help the boy purchase a car.
This goal was quickly exceeded and reached $44,000!
Carr’s boss, CEO Luke Marklin called Carr and told him he wants to meet him in person to express his gratitude. When they met, Marklin told Cerr that he will give him his car, a 2014 Ford Escape.
Carr was speechless from the kind gesture and said that “people shouldn’t let others tell them they can’t do something because it’s up to us”.
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