Walter Carr, 20, a student from Alabama

The day before Carr's first day of work, his 2003 Nissan Altima broke down.

He called his friends and his girlfriend for a ride, but he checked his GPS and saw that without a car it would take him about 7 hours to get from his home in Homewood, Alabama, to the city. from Pelham for his first day at Bellho. ps moving company.

He decided to walk

Carr started his 20-kilometer trek around midnight.

"I wanted to be here before 8 am," he said. "I wanted to beat the crew members to let the company know how dedicated I am."

He made about 14 miles to Pelham when the police stopped him on the roadside around 4 am

was like, "Where are you going? and I was saying to myself, "It's hard to believe, it's going to sound really crazy, but I'm really going to work." Carr said.

When they heard his story, the officers decided to take him to breakfast at Whataburger and make sure he had something for lunch, too.

Carr said the officers debated for a little while where they could safely drop him and finally landed on First Methodist Church. The officers said that they would send someone to monitor him.

Carr rested for a while before starting over walk. He had less than 4 miles left when another officer stopped to watch him.

"He said, 'Are you Walter Carr? and he said, "Get in the car, I have you," said Carr.

The officer lodged it with Jenny Hayden Lamey, whom Carr had to help move that day. Carr once said that the officer told his story to Lamey and her husband Chris, they insisted he rested a bit.

"They were overwhelmed," he said. "We talked for five minutes of my rest."

After the move, Lamey, impressed by Carr's determination, shared her story on Facebook

She said while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, they started arguing, and Lamey said learned that Carr is a marine. She says that he and his mother moved to Birmingham after losing their home in New Orleans during Katrina.

"I can not tell you how much I was touched by Walter and his trip," she writes. "He is humble, kind and happy and he has big dreams!"

Lamey's message went viral and caught Luke Marklin, CEO of Bellhops, on Sunday morning. Marklin said that he started getting texts on Carr's story and gathered his team to understand how they could thank him.

"Just sitting there reading it, I was just blown away," Marklin said. "The more we learned, the more we realized that Walter was only a special person."

Marklin met Carr on Monday to thank him and decided to offer him his personal Ford Escape. Carr was surprised, it is the least that can be said.

"I think he was pretty happy," laughs Marklin. "His determination to take on challenges is really something the legends are made for, really."

Like Lamey, Marklin said he was impressed by Carr's determination

"It was wonderful to get to know him – nobody who had any adversity at all. his life, "he said," I do not think Walter … would ever let a car slaughter him. "

Since then, Lamey has launched a campaign GoFundMe to help raise money for Carr, raising nearly $ 8,500 in a single day, far exceeding the $ 2,000 goal

Carr said he was incredibly grateful for all the comments he's received since the story became viral.

"J He could not believe it. I think walking 20 miles would mean anything to anyone. "He said," I'm really grateful for that, the car, for everything. "

It's also very painful.

" It was the craziest ride, "Carr said. My body was like, "What were you thinking?" I had to do the work. "

Follow Yancey-Bragg's Dea on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBraggg

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