A college student from Birmingham, Alabama, whose car broke down the night before he was supposed to start a new job with the Bellhops moving company, knew there was one thing he he wouldn't do: not show up.

After he asked someone for a ride and it fell through, the High School graduate Walter Carr walked around 20 miles (32km) from Homewood, Alabama, to Pelham, Alabama, so he wouldn't miss his first day at his new job. He needed the work, even though his phone told him it would take him seven hours on foot.

"I've never been that person that gives up," said Carr, "I've just never seen myself doing that. I can only be defeated if I allow myself do be defeated."

When in Pelham, four police officers found Carr walking at 4:30am and after he told them his story, they bought him breakfast and a lunch to go, then they took him to a church to rest before his shift started at 8am. When Carr continued his walk to work several hours later, another officer found him and drove him the rest of the way to the Pelham home of Jenny Lamey.

Lamey was impressed by Carr's story, and Lamey posted a viral account of Carr's trek to help her move house. "I just can't tell you how touched I was by Walter and his journey, " she said. "He is humble and kind and cheerful and he had big dreams! He is hardworking and tough. I can't imagine how many times on that lonely walk down the highway in the middle of the night did he want to turn back? How many times did he wonder if this was the best idea? How many times did he want to find a place to sit or lie down and wait' till morning when he could maybe get someone to come pick him up and bring him back home? But he walked until he got here! I am in total awe of this young man!"

Bellhops CEO Luke Marklin drove to Birmingham under the guise of meeting Carr for coffee to personally thank him. "We are a company that is trying to change a broken and not customer-friendly industry, " Marlin said. "We're trying to transform that with a lot of heart and a lot of grit. And when I read that story on Sunday I was blown away, and I couldn't think of a better story of what this company is all about."

Marklin decided that since the only thing standing in the way of Carr excelling at his company seemed to be reliable transportation, he would do something about it. So he gave Carr his own 2014 Ford Escape. "It seemed like the car was going to be put to a lot better use," Marklin said. "He's just awesome. He's our role model."

"I'm still in shock," Carr said. "I thank him [Marklin]… I thank everyone for talking their time to listen to my story."