Alabama removals employee gifted new car by boss after walking 20 miles to first day of work

A young man from Alabama who walked 20 miles to make it on time for his first day of work was personally gifted a new car by his boss.

Walter Carr was forced to make the commute on foot after his car broke down on route to his new job at removal firm Bellhops.

He was due to help Jenny Hayden Lamey and her family move from Pelham, Alabama, on Saturday.

Four hours into his journey, Mr Carr met with a police officer who took him for breakfast and then onto Ms Lamey's house, where he got straight to work.

And after Ms Lamey shared the young man's story online, he was handed the set of keys for a 2014 Ford Escape by the chief executive of his firm.

Ms Lamey wrote on Facebook that she and her husband woke early on Friday as a removals team were due to arrive at around 8am.

But their doorball rang at 6.30am and she met Mr Carr, who was accompanied by a police officer from the Pelham police force.

"He proceeded to tell us that he had picked up 'this nice kid' in Pelham early this morning," said Ms Lamey.

"The nice kid, Walter, said that he was supposed to help us with our move today."

She continued: "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.

"The police officer said they picked him up earlier that morning, took him to get some breakfast and once they checked his story out, brought Walter to our house."

Ms Lamey asked Mr Carr if he wanted to rest until everyone else arrived but he declined and said he would get started with the work.

While helping her in the kitchen, she said Mr Carr told her he and his mother lost their home in Hurricane Katrina.

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

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

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

Ms Lamey's post has been shared nearly 2,000 times and she has started a GoFundMe campaign to help Mr Carr fix his car, which has raised more than $10,000.

And Mr Carr was also praised by Luke Marklin, CEO of the moving company, who drove from Tennessee to meet with his new employee.

The young man broke down in tears when Mr Marklin gifted him a new car.

Moving footage shared by Bellhops on Twitter showed the moment Mr Carr received the vehicle.

He responded "seriously" then hugged Mr Marklin and accepted the keys.

Mr Carr plans to graduate from college in December with a degree in health sciences.

On Monday, he told reporters that he was grateful just to have had the job opportunity.

"This was the first job in a long time to give me an opportunity to get hired," he said.

"I wanted to show them that I've got the dedication."