Student walks 32km to get to work early on his first day, boss rewards him with a car

A university student who walked 20 miles to his first day of work after his car broke down was left in tears over his boss' incredible show of kindness. Walter Carr, 20, walked all night in the dark so he wouldn't miss his shift with a removals company. A police officer stopped the aspiring US marine at 4am and took him for breakfast after being impressed by his story, which soon went viral in a Facebook post. When Bellhoops CEO Luke Marklin found out, he surprised Mr Carr at work and gave him his car as a thank you. Mr Carr, whose family's home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, became emotional and was left stunned, turning to Mr Marklin and saying "Seriously?" when he was handed the keys to the 2014 Ford Escape. He told AL.com: "This was the first job in a long time to give me an opportunity to get hired. I wanted to show them I got the dedication. I said I'm going to get to this job one way or another.'' Mr Marklin added: "I am honestly blown away by him. Everything he did that day is exactly who we are - heart and grit." The college student started the long walk to work through the suburbs of the US city of Birmingham, Alabama after his car broke down the night before his first shift with Bellhops. He was in Pelham in the early hours of Friday when a police officer stopped and approached him. The officer admired his determination and took him out for breakfast, and a colleague drove him to the home where he was due to help Jenny Lamey and her husband Chris move house. Mum-of-two Mrs Lamey wrote a Facebook post hailing Mr Carr, and it soon went viral as praise poured in for the young man. She told how her doorbell rang at 6.30am and she was surprised by a police officer, who said he had picked up "this nice kid" who was supposed to help with the move. Mrs Lamey added: "It was his first day on the job with this moving company (Bellhops) and he was 'training' today. The officer proceeded to tell us that the previous evening Walter’s car broke down and he didn’t know how he was going to get to work. "So he left Homewood at MIDNIGHT and started WALKING to Pelham on 280. "He WALKED ALL NIGHT to get from Homewood to Pelham. Because he needed to get to work. For those reading this that are not local, that’s over 20 Miles." She invited Mr Carr inside and said he could have a nap, but he declined and started working immediately before his colleagues arrived. Mrs Lamey said Mr Carr told her how he and his mum had moved to Birmingham after losing their home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. She added: "I asked him if he was tired from all that walking and he said replied that he wasn’t and that he had a 4 hour nap before he left at midnight. "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." Pelham police officer Mark Knighten, who spotted Mr Carr at the site of the road, and two fellow officers, Klint Rhodes and Carl Perkinson, treated the student to breakfast at Whataburger after being impressed by his story, and bought him lunch as well. Mr Knighten told AL.com: "He was very polite. It was 'yes sir' and 'no sir'." They then dropped him off at a church because it was the safest place to leave him in the early hours. Fellow officer Scott Duffey, who was just starting his shift, found out about the story and went in search of Carr, finding him completing the rest of the journey on foot. Mr Duffey picked him up and drove him to the Lamey household. An online fundraiser was launched to help Mr Carr repair his vehicle, raising more than $8,000 (£6,000) before it was closed. Mr Carr said he plans to graduate from Lawson State Community College with an associate's degree in health sciences in December, and hopes to join the US Marines afterwards.

Student walks 32km to get to work early on his first day, boss rewards him with a car

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Student walks 32km to get to work early on his first day, boss rewards him with a car

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