Over $129,000 raised for US man who walks 21 miles to and from work

Thousands of donations totalling more than $129,000 have been contributed to a Detroit man after it emerged he has walked 21 miles (34km) to and from his job every working day for the last decade.

The Detroit Free Press reported this week that James Robertson (56) walks about 4 hours in the morning and up to 6 hours on the way home every night he works.

Robertson, an employee at engineering plant Schain Mold & Engineering, told the newspaper he could not afford to buy and maintain a car on his wage of $10.55 an hour. His 1988 Honda Accord packed it in a decade ago.

He takes a bus for part of the journey but, as public transport doesn’t cover the entire route, he has to walk about 8 miles to the factory before his 2pm start and 13 miles home at 10pm - when public transport is even more limited.

Sometimes he won’t arrive home until 4am.

His employer says Mr Robertson sets an example to the rest of his workforce.

"I set our attendance standard by this man," says Todd Wilson, plant manager at Schain Mold & Engineering.

“I say, if this man can get here, walking all those miles through snow and rain, well I’ll tell you, I have people in Pontiac 10 minutes away and they say they can’t get here — bull!”

Mr Robertson enjoys working at the plant. “We’re like a family.”

The Detroit man walks in all conditions. Temperatures in the region can vary between minus 17 degrees in winter to 33 degrees during the summer.

Robertson has to walk through the run-down neighbourhood of Highland Park that featured in local rap artist Eminem's 2002 biopic 8Mile.

“It’s pretty dangerous. Really, it is (dangerous) from 8 Mile on down. They’re not the type of people you want to run into.”

“I’m not saying I’m a member of some church. But just before I get home, every night, I say, ‘Lord, keep me safe.”

The newspaper article was seen by 19-year-old Evan Leedy who launched an online crowdsourcing appeal on the gofundme website. His initial goal was to raise $5,000 for James to buy a car but by Tuesday morning, he had raised $129,776 through 4,676 donations.