On the last day of work, coworkers surprise a retiree from Little Rock with a car

Little Rock, Arkansas – On her final day of employment before retiring, a Little Rock woman received a unique gift.

After more than 40 years of employment at the Baptist Health cath lab in Little Rock, Amelia Battles is retiring. She never let her financial struggles at home to interfere with her performance at work.

Seeing the sacrifices she had made over the years, her coworkers pooled their funds to buy her a car, which they gave to her on her last day of employment.

She claimed that for years, she had been using the municipal bus, getting rides from coworkers to go to work, and occasionally even walking if necessary. Luckily, that is now behind us.

“I can go and come do what I want to do,” Battles said. “If I want to sleep in bed or say, ‘Ok I need to run to Target or Walmart,’ I can just hop in my car.”

Leaders at the cath lab say Battles deserves the award, which she claimed was surprising given her year-long kindness and giving.

“It was something that we wanted to do as an act of love and to show her that we love her care for her and we wanted to continue taking care of her,” Baptist Health cath lab supervisor Sarah Wright said.

According to her coworkers, Battles has generously helped others throughout her career, and today was their chance to repay the favor.

Battles expressed her gratitude for being able to drive herself into retirement.

“It’s been seven years since I drove a car, this feels great,” Battles said.