Ethiopian Review

Pizza delivery driver Stephen Walker must have felt he hit rock bottom when he was mugged and carjacked while on the job last month.

But he was sky high today as he tried to set the world record for highest pizza delivery — at the Willis Tower.

Walker joined Papa John’s founder, John Schnatter, on the elevator ride to the tower’s Skydeck with 15 pizzas in tow.

Nobody actually ordered the pizzas (five pepperoni, five sausage and five “The Works”), and they weren’t eaten on the Skydeck, 103 stories above the street.

The pizzas were given to Willis employees to eat in the building’s breakroom after the Papa John’s crew dished out gift cards to Skydeck visitors.

The crew took photos and video, and will submit them to Guinness World Records, which will evaluate whether the record is valid. Papa John’s said its doesn’t believe there is currently a record for highest pizza delivery.

Papa John’s had been planning the stunt for a few months as a part of a celebration of the company’s 25th anniversary. Schnatter said he had also been planning to meet Walker after he heard about the driver’s beating, and was happy that he was included in the attempted record.

Walker said he was glad to have met Schnatter, and was grateful for the help he had gotten from the company.

“It was far, far above the call of duty,” Walker said of the company’s help, which included a $1,000 donation to him from the corporate company’s employee relief fund. “I thanked Papa John personally because no other boss has ever helped me this much.”

While it may have been the highest pizza delivery, it wasn’t the most adventurous. Both Schnatter and Walker kept their distance from the Skydeck’s brand-new Ledge — a glass box that juts out of the building.

“I thought I was going to faint there for a second,” Schnatter said. “I don’t have any phobias, but I’m afraid of heights.”

- By Ben Meyerson | Chicago Breaking News Center