An 81-year-old delivery driver in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has received nearly $250,000 in donations from strangers after a home security camera caught him struggling to carry heavy luggage up a steep flight of stairs.
Don Johnson was delivering bags that had been lost on a recent flight to Erin Howell, a Dallas-Fort Worth area resident, when her door camera recorded him laboring up the stairs.
“The other day, my door cam caught an 81-year-old man slowly and painstakingly carrying my heavy luggage that had been lost on a recent flight up a steep flight of stairs. He looked absolutely exhausted, and his steps were heavy with effort,” Howell wrote on GoFundMe.
Howell said the footage moved her to act. “It completely broke my heart to see a man of his age doing such intense, grueling physical labor,” she wrote. “The reality is that he isn’t working by choice; he is working for survival.”
Johnson has worked as an independent contractor delivering luggage for three years, since his wife, Josephine, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. The couple, married for 57 years, moved in with their daughter for help during her treatment, but rising medical bills and prescription costs pushed Johnson back into the workforce.
“It’s the only job that will hire me,” Johnson told Howell.
Johnson told NBC5 Dallas-Fort Worth that other employers turned him down. “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.”
He has regularly worked 14-hour days, driving hundreds of miles daily. His car has logged more than 200,000 miles, leading to serious mechanical problems.
“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 said.
Howell launched a GoFundMe campaign for the Johnsons on Sept. 2 with a goal of $300,000. “He shouldn’t have to carry this crushing financial and physical weight all by himself anymore,” she said. “Every single dollar raised from this campaign will go directly to helping them survive this crisis.”
The fundraiser has since collected more than $244,000.
Johnson told KDFW he may finally be able to step back from work. “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 said the outpouring of support has given her new strength to face 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.”
