Walter Carr had a serious problem. The 20-year-old had landed a job with the Bellhops moving company, but the day before his first day of work his car broke down. He’d agreed to help a family 20 miles away move, but had no way to get there. Calling out of his very first down felt like a recipe for losing the job before he had it.

Carr began by calling or texting everyone he knew, begging for a ride. But even after the desperate flurry of phone calls, no one came through. At 8 pm, he got on Google Maps to scout out the route from his apartment near Birmingham Alabama to the home in Pelham. The former cross country runner decided that he could do it, and even beat the apps’ eight-hour estimate.

The young man had just paid rent and didn’t have much extra cash. But he did have some bologna and eggs, so he fried himself a quick snack and then lay down for a nap. Getting ready to leave in the dark, he realized he might have problems with dogs. So after he grabbed his wallet and phone, he picked up a kitchen knife and a baseball.

“I’ve always been that person who figured things out on my own…I went out walking.”

Carr did jog for a bit. When his legs began to burn, he settled in to a fast walk. Sure enough, in the middle of the night an aggressive dog ran up to him. But when he threw the baseball, the dog ran after it and Carr was able to run away.

The whole time, he stayed focused on what it would take to arrive by 7 AM. “I was just thinking about my route, how I was going to get there in the time frame I needed to.”

Around 4 AM, Carr decided to sit down for a break. “I decided I’d rest for a minute because my legs were killing me.” He found a bank parking lot and decided it felt like a safe, well-lit place. Then the police showed up.

Officer Mark Knighten asked if Carr was alright. Despite having a rough night, Carr said yes. “I said, ‘This is crazy but I’m actually heading to work. It’s my first day in the job.’ ”

The policeman took pity on Carr. He asked the young man when he last ate. Carr told him about his bologna and eggs dinner and Knighten said to hop in. Carr protested, “I just paid my rent. I have no cash on me at all.”

Knighten promised the meal would be on him. They went to Whataburger and met up with some other police officers having a late snack. Carr ordered a single chicken biscuit. Everyone insisted he order another.

Afterward, Knighten drove Carr most of the way to his job. He explained his shift was ending, but that a police officer from that town would catch up with Carr and take him the rest of the way. He left him in a church parking lot and told him to wait there.

Carr waited for a while. But by 5:30 AM, he began to worry help would never arrive, and he’d miss his first day at the job. So he began walking again. At 6:30 AM, Officer Scott Duffey caught up with Carr and drove him the final four miles.

Rolling up to a new job in a police car looked a bit suspicious. So Duffey introduced himself to the homeowner who was moving, and explained Carr’s story.

Jenny Lamey said, “The officer told me, ‘I’ve got this nice kid in my car. He’s a great kid, he’s been walking all night to get to your house’…That’s when the tears started coming. I just started crying.”

Lamey offered Carr a bed to take a nap in but he said,  “No, I’d rather get started.” 

The rest of the movers showed up shortly after. The team made quick work of moving the family across town. Lamey and Carr said they got along like old friends. After moving, most people would have finally laid down for a nap. But not Carr. Somehow he found the energy to play basketball with Lamey’s teenage sons.

Lamey said, “I can’t imagine what kept him going…What came over him physically was supernatural. I think God helped him through.”

One of the other movers drove Carr home. But Lamey was profoundly impressed by the young man, “He’s such a humble, kindhearted person…He’s really incredible. He said it was the way he was raised. Nothing is impossible unless you say it’s impossible.”

Lamey was inspired to create a GoFundMe page. She explained Carr’s story and set a $2,000 goal to get his vehicle repaired. Then the story went viral, the donations poured in, and the fundraiser raised $91,1849 before Carr and Lamey decided to shut it down. Carr was completely overwhelmed by the generosity, but pledged $25k of the money to the Birmingham Ed Foundation which helped him get through school. With the rest, he was able to complete community college.

Walter Carr’s story doesn’t end there. The Bellhop Moving CEO, Luke Marklin, got wind of his latest employee’s determination. He called Carr and said, “We set a really high bar for heart and grit and … you just blew it away.” He asked to have a cup of coffee with Carr, but met him with a surprise: the keys to his personal Ford Escape.

Carr said, “The lesson of my story is it’s great to reach people, I always wanted to inspire people…Don’t let nobody tell you you can’t do something. It’s up to us whether we can.”

Next, learn about the 1,500 townspeople who banded together to drive a legally blind man to work, or see the moment Carr got his new Ford in the video below: