Walter Carr is a 20-year-old college student in Homewood, Alabama who was desperate to get to work one morning, but his 2003 Nissan Altima would not start. With his car dead, Walter was faced with the fact that he might miss his first day as a mover for Bellhops.

Walter wasn’t about to miss his first day, so he left his home at midnight so he could walk the 20 miles to the job site.

Walter walked along the dark highway all night long. Finally, at around 4am, Pelham Police Officer Mark Knighten spotted Walter and pulled over to ask him if he was alright. When he heard what was going on, he knew he had to help him.

Knighten teamed up with fellow officers Klint Rhodes and Carl Perkinson to take Walter to breakfast, and they also got him some lunch for later in the day.

“He was very polite. It was ‘yes sir’ and ‘no sir,”’ Knighten said.

The officers then drove Walter to the job site, going so far as to knock on doors to introduce him to residents and let them know what he had been through to get there.

Jenny and Chris Lamey had hired Bellhops to help them move that day, and they were stunned when police officers knocked on their door that morning at 6:30am.

“He proceeded to tell us that he had picked up ‘this nice kid’ in Pelham early this morning. ‘The nice kid’, Walter, said that he was supposed to help us with our move today. It was his first day on the job with this moving company (Bellhops) and he was ‘training’ today,” Jenny recalled on Facebook. “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.”

Jenny and Chris were so shocked to hear about what Walter had done that they offered to let him rest in their home until his crew arrived, but he wasn’t having any of it. Instead, he got right to work and started packing up their house!

“He WALKED ALL NIGHT to get from Homewood to Pelham,” Jenny wrote. “Because he needed to get to work. For those reading this that are not local, that’s over 20 Miles. You could tell how the officer told us this story that he had complete admiration for Walter and by my reaction he could tell I did too.”

The Lameys were impressed by how hard Walter continued to work all day. As Jenny talked to him, she learned that Walter and his mother had lost their home in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. She also learned that Walter is earning his Associate’s degree in health science from Lawson State, then he plans to join the U.S. Marine Corps.

Jenny’s post about Walter went viral as people all over the globe were touched by his work ethic!

“I just can’t tell you how touched I was by Walter and his journey,” Jenny wrote. “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 280 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 til 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!”

The story eventually caught the attention of Luke Marklin, the CEO of Bellhops movers. He drove all the way to Birmingham, Alabama from Tennessee to invite Walter to grab a cup of coffee with him.

“I am honestly blown away by him,” Luke said of Walter. “Everything he did that day is exactly who we are — heart and grit. So far, he’s batting 1,000.”

Luke then stunned Walter by offering him the keys to his 2014 Ford Escape!

“This was the first job in a long time to give me an opportunity to get hired,” Walter later said. “I wanted to show them I got the dedication. I said I’m going to get to this job one way or another.”

“I want people to know this — no matter what the challenge is, you can break through [it]. Nothing is impossible unless you make it impossible,” Walter said. “You can do anything you set your mind to.”

We’re so glad to see that Walter’s story has a happy ending! this just goes to show that hard work really does pay off!

Watch Walter be given the keys to his new car below, and SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!