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81-Year-Old Delivery Driver's Cancer Fundraiser Refunded After Raising $700K
Re81-Year-Old Delivery Driver's Cancer Fundraiser Refunded After Raising $700K
An 81-year-old Texas delivery driver who kept working to cover his wife's cancer treatment saw a $700,000 fundraiser removed from GoFundMe, with donations refunded due to a terms-of-service violation.
An 81-year-old delivery driver in Texas who continued working to cover his wife's cancer treatment has learned that a fundraiser launched on his behalf will not reach his family, after GoFundMe removed the campaign and began refunding more than $700,000 in donations.
Donald Johnson, 81, was delivering lost luggage to a home in The Colony, Texas, when resident Erin Howell saw him struggling to carry a heavy bag up a steep set of stairs. Her doorbell camera captured the moment, and Howell went outside to help. During their conversation, she learned that Johnson had been working as an independent contractor making luggage deliveries for the past three years to help pay for medical expenses for his wife, Josephine Johnson, who is battling cancer.
The couple has been married for 57 years. Johnson told Howell he had struggled to find other work and was continuing to make deliveries because it was the only job available to him. Howell shared his story online and started a fundraiser aimed at covering medical expenses and giving him the chance to stop working and care for his wife.
As the story spread, thousands of strangers responded with donations and messages of support. Johnson told FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth that the response might allow him to stop working. «I think I'm going to be able to stop working, and that's amazing,» he said. «So we're not quite totally over the hump yet, but we're getting there very quickly.»
Josephine Johnson said the outpouring of support and prayers had encouraged her as she continued her cancer battle. «I can face it. I think that's the big difference,» she said. «Some have made comments and they're praying for us. And it's just — it's a joyful feeling.»
That relief, however, was short-lived. In a recent TikTok video, the couple's daughter, Amy Johnson, said the campaign had collected more than $700,000 but that her parents would not receive the money because the donations were being refunded due to what she described as a technicality. Sitting alongside her parents, Amy Johnson said the funds were intended to cover her mother's medical expenses as she battles pancreatic cancer and to give her 81-year-old father the opportunity to stop working.
GoFundMe told FOX 4 that its trust and safety team determined the organizer account and fundraiser violated its terms of service. The company did not specify the exact reason for the decision, saying its policies require «authenticity and transparency for donors.»
The case highlights the role of crowdfunding in helping families manage the costs of serious illness, as well as the platform rules that can determine whether donations reach their intended recipients. For the Johnson family, the refunded campaign leaves the original financial pressures in place even after an outpouring of public support.
Fox News Digital reached out to Amy Johnson and GoFundMe for further comment and details.
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