Neighbor raises nearly $750K for elderly man working to pay wife’s cancer treatment, then GoFundMe pulls the plug

An elderly couple in Texas seeking to raise money for the wife’s cancer treatment nearly reached $750,000 after their story went viral. However, just days after a neighbor set up the fundraiser, GoFundMe reportedly shut down the campaign due to “factual misrepresentations.”

A neighbor in the suburb of The Colony in Dallas, identified as “Erin H,” noticed 81-year-old Donald Johnson hauling heavy suitcases up a staircase and discovered that he was “working around the clock” to gather funds for his wife Josephine’s pancreatic cancer treatment, according to USA Today. Despite the physically demanding work, delivering luggage was supposedly the only job Johnson could find to pay his wife’s mounting medical bills for the past three years.

Touched by Johnson’s dedication to support his wife, Erin H set up the GoFundMe page “HelpDonRetire.” With Johnson’s story, along with Ring camera footage showing the husband carrying two pieces of luggage up a flight of stairs, the fundraiser quickly gained traction and raised over $745,000 from strangers. Comedian Matt Rife and hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman reportedly made substantial donations.

Stranger who organized GoFundMe page was the daughter

On Sept. 28, however, GoFundMe pulled the plug on the fundraiser. The crowdfunding platform reportedly received a tip that raised suspicion about Erin H’s identity, prompting the Trust & Safety team to look into the organizer and the campaign.

@helpdonretire

Hi, I’m Amy. Don is my dad. Jodi is my mom. My mom has pancreatic cancer. The bills are high. My dad is 81 and still works delivering luggage so they can stay afloat. That part has always been true. The doorcam video is real. The diagnosis is real. The job is real. A lot of you already gave on GoFundMe. We are so grateful. That page was originally set up on my account because it was already established and we thought that would be the simplest way. When the name on the page was updated, GoFundMe treated it as a discrepancy. We offered documentation. They refunded the donations anyway. We know that is frustrating. It is frustrating for us too. Nobody wanted your gift sent back. Nothing about my mom’s treatment changed. Nothing about my dad’s age or his work changed. They still need help. We started over on a new page so your support can actually reach them this time. If you already gave, thank you. You do not have to give again. If you can, even a little, it goes to her care and to getting him off those stairs. We will post updates. We will keep this page in our names. Thank you for the kindness you already showed this family. #lovestory❤️ #cancersucks #givesendgo Here is the direct link: givesendgo.com/helpdonretire

♬ original sound – HelpDonRetire

During the investigation, GoFundMe discovered that Erin H wasn’t a neighbor but the Johnsons’ daughter, Amy. The platform was prompted to shut down the page and refund the donations due to factual misrepresentations.

“Our Trust & Safety team identified factual misrepresentations, which directly violates our Terms of Service. As a result, the fundraiser has been removed, and all donors have been refunded,” GoFundMe said in a statement. “Taking action like this allows GoFundMe to protect donors’ generosity and our continued ability to support people who are fundraising to help others.”

Under the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee, the donors were given a full refund. The platform’s policies require transparency and authenticity for the benefit of the donors.

Amy reportedly admitted that the Johnsons were her parents and that she had used a fake identity, believing the fundraiser would attract more attention if her parents’ story was presented from the perspective of a stranger. She also disclosed that the viral video of her father had been filmed. However, she insisted that her parents’ circumstances were genuine.

Amy and her family make a new donation page

“We had over $700,000 in donations, and it’s absolutely devastating right now because we had so much hope and we were able to take care of the medical bills,” Amy told the public in a video on TikTok, addressing the loss of the GoFundMe page. “So to lose it, it’s just really hard.”

Following the shutdown of the original GoFundMe page, Amy set up a new fundraiser on GiveSendGo with the same name, “HelpDonRetire.” This time around, Amy listed herself as the organizer.

“Hi, I’m Amy. Don is my dad. Josephine is my mom,” Amy wrote. “My mom has pancreatic cancer. The bills are high. My dad is 81 and still works delivering luggage so they can stay afloat. The neighbor story is real. The doorcam video is real. The diagnosis is real. The job is real.”

When asked about the authenticity of the campaign, GiveSendGo told NBC: “We do not allow fundraisers to deceive the public about who or what is being fundraised for. Every fundraiser on GiveSendGo is reviewed by our verification team before any funds are released.”

On the new fundraising page, Amy and her parents have already raised over $240,000 out of their $350,000 goal. While the number is still far from the nearly $750,000 they raised the first time, the donation will surely help with the family’s bills.

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