Nocturnal 
An 81-year-old man who went viral for still working full-time to help pay for his wife’s cancer treatment has lost every penny of the huge sum strangers donated to help him, after GoFundMe discovered the fundraiser wasn’t quite what it seemed.
Donald “Don” Johnson, from Texas, had spent the last three years delivering lost airline luggage as an independent contractor to cover his wife Josephine’s medical bills. The pair have been married for 57 years, and Josephine has been battling cancer, reportedly pancreatic cancer.
A doorbell camera video showed Don struggling to carry a heavy suitcase up a steep flight of stairs in The Colony, a suburb north of Dallas. The footage was shared by a fundraiser page supposedly set up by a neighbour called “Erin Howell,” who said the moment “completely broke my heart” and that she’d stepped outside to help him.
According to the page, Don told her: “It’s the only job that will hire me.” He had reportedly driven more than 200,000 miles delivering luggage to keep up with the couple’s mounting costs.
Millions of pounds of goodwill
The story spread fast, and donations poured in. Reports on how much was actually raised vary, with figures ranging from around $700,000 to nearly $1 million (roughly £500,000 to £750,000) cited across different outlets. Don told local station FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth he believed the money meant he could finally stop working, while Josephine said the support had given her strength to keep fighting.
But the story took a turn when GoFundMe’s trust and safety team received a tip questioning who “Erin Howell” really was. The platform said it called the organiser directly and asked if Don and Josephine were her parents — and she admitted they were.
Daughter admits using a pseudonym
The organiser was, in fact, Don and Josephine’s daughter, Amy Johnson. NewsNation reported that “Erin” was made up of Amy’s middle name and her mother’s maiden middle name, Howell. GoFundMe said Amy also admitted filming the viral doorbell footage herself and that the “neighbour” character was invented.
GoFundMe said in a statement: “Our Trust & Safety team identified factual misrepresentations, which directly violate our Terms of Service. As a result, the fundraiser has been removed and all donors have been refunded.”
Amy strongly disputed that she’d misled anyone about the core facts. She told NewsNation: “Every single detail regarding my 81-year-old father’s grueling work and my mother’s active cancer battle is 100% true.” She said she used a placeholder name to protect a real neighbour who wanted to remain anonymous but was willing to help spread the story, insisting it wasn’t done to deceive donors about the family’s genuine hardship.
NewsNation said it was able to independently confirm that Don Johnson is employed by a transportation company, and that Josephine’s doctor confirmed her cancer diagnosis.
Where things stand now
Amy said she is seeking legal representation and accused GoFundMe of “trying to hurt” the family by cancelling the campaign. She has since launched a new fundraiser for her parents on the platform GiveSendGo, explaining the situation to potential donors there.
GoFundMe has not detailed the exact terms it believes were breached beyond citing “factual misrepresentations,” and has confirmed all original donors were refunded in full. Nocturnal News has approached GoFundMe for further comment.
