An 81-year-old Texas man was carrying two lost suitcases up a steep flight of stairs when the woman waiting for them opened her door and realized who had been sent to make the delivery.
Don Johnson had been returning lost airline luggage to people’s homes as an independent contractor, a job that could keep him on the road for 12 to 14 hours a day. Erin Howell, a resident of The Colony near Dallas, later shared footage of Johnson struggling with her bags and explained what she learned after going outside to help him.
Johnson’s wife of 57 years, Josephine, is battling cancer. Howell said in her original TikTok video that Josephine has pancreatic cancer and that the couple’s medical expenses were crushing them. Johnson told Howell the luggage-delivery work was “the only job that will hire me.”
Howell decided that watching him drive away could not be the end of their encounter. She launched a GoFundMe for Johnson, hoping enough people would see his story to get him off the road and back home with Josephine. Within weeks, strangers had contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars, giving Johnson something he had not expected: a realistic chance to retire.
At The Door
Embedded media follows; please allow a moment to load.
@helpdonretire Two weeks ago Don was a stranger on my door cam. He showed up with lost luggage. 81 years old. Taking the stairs one bag at a time. I asked why he was doing a job that hard. He said it was the only one that would hire him. He’s doing it for his wife, Josephine. Cancer. Married since 1969. I found out today his car is done. He’s getting rides however he can. He still had one more delivery, so he Ubered there and back. At 81. After already putting a brutal amount of miles on that car for her. I made a GoFundMe so he can stop. In 9 days, generous strangers have organically donated $4,000. I’m so thankful. People have liked, commented, and reshared who will never meet him. That kindness is already changing things. https://gofund.me/9c60d9f1b If you can help, use the link. If you can’t, please follow this page — at 1,000 followers it becomes clickable. I won’t buy followers — I’d rather people follow because they care about Don and Josephine. If you can’t give, that still helps. 🙏 Let’s get him home with her. ❤️ #fyp #foryou #viral #gofundme #humanity ♬ original sound – HelpDonRetire
Howell’s doorbell camera captured Johnson slowly moving her luggage up the stairs after the bags had been lost on a recent flight.
She went outside to help and began asking him about his work.
Johnson had been delivering lost or delayed luggage for about three years. The fundraiser says he works as an independent contractor and uses his own vehicle, which has accumulated more than 200,000 miles through the job and developed mechanical problems along the way.
Johnson later told NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth that other employment attempts had not worked out. He said he had tried places including Amazon and Walmart before turning to the luggage deliveries.
The job can mean hundreds of miles behind the wheel in a single day.
In a later NBC News report, Johnson said he sometimes works 12 to 14 hours and drives 300 to 400 miles a day returning luggage from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to its owners.
Why He Works
Johnson told NBC that rising everyday expenses had already left him and Josephine financially breaking even.
Then there were the costs associated with her cancer treatment.
“I appreciate what we do get from insurance, but it doesn’t cover it all,” Johnson told NBC.
Howell described the same pressure when she created the fundraiser. She wrote that treatments, prescription medications and daily living costs had overwhelmed the couple and said the campaign was intended to cover those expenses