A home security camera in the Dallas-Fort Worth area caught something that stopped a homeowner cold: an 81-year-old delivery driver hauling heavy, lost luggage up a steep flight of stairs, moving slowly, visibly worn out.
The homeowner, Erin Howell, recognized the driver, Don Johnson, and learned why a man his age was still doing physical delivery work. His wife of 57 years, Josephine Johnson, has an aggressive form of cancer, and Don has spent the last three years working as an independent contractor delivering lost luggage to cover her medical bills and prescription costs.
“It’s the only job that will hire me,” Johnson told Howell.
Johnson told NBC5 Dallas-Fort Worth he’d tried to get work elsewhere first. “With the increase in groceries and expenses and everything, we were just getting by,” he said. “I tried Amazon and Walmart and other places. It was either not the right moment, or they just passed on me.”
The couple moved in with their daughter to help manage the illness, but the bills kept coming. Johnson has been working 14-hour days, driving hundreds of miles daily, a pace that has put more than 200,000 miles on his car and led to mechanical breakdowns.
Howell decided the load was too much for one man to carry alone and launched a GoFundMe on Sept. 2.
“At an age when he should be resting and spending every precious single moment by his wife’s side, he is out on the road lifting heavy bags just to keep her alive and cared for,” Howell wrote.
She added that the goal was simple: “He shouldn’t have to carry this crushing financial and physical weight all by himself anymore. Every single dollar raised from this campaign will go directly to helping them survive this crisis.”
The campaign has since pulled in more than $244,000 toward a $300,000 goal, funded entirely by strangers who saw the footage and the story behind it.
For Johnson, the response means he may finally be able to stop working the long hours. “I think I’m going to be able to stop working, and that’s amazing,” he told KDFW. “So we’re not quite totally over the hump yet, but we’re getting there very quickly.”
Josephine said the outpouring of support has changed how she faces her illness. “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.”
