Daughter responds to GoFundMe shutting down elderly dad's £500k fundraiser for wife's cancer treatment
The daughter of an elderly man who lost over £500,000 in donations after GoFundMe shut down his crowdfunding page has spoken out.
A new update has come from the Donald ‘Don’ Johnson story, which saw the 81-year-old lose out on $700,000 (£529,000) in donations after a viral video showed him hauling heavy luggage for work so he could pay for his wife’s medical bills.
However, after finding internet fame from the TikTok on the 3rd of September, things took a turn.
According to NewsNation, GoFundMe reported 'factual misrepresentations' involved, which led the platform to shut down the fundraiser.
Advert
Its statement claimed: “Our Trust & Safety team identified factual misrepresentations, which directly violate our Terms of Service.
“As a result, the fundraiser has been removed and all donors have been refunded. Ensuring GoFundMe is a safe and trusted place to give and receive help is our top priority. Taking action like this allows GoFundMe to protect donors.”
Since the decision was made, Don, his wife Josephine – who is reportedly battling pancreatic cancer – and their daughter, Amy, have spoken out about the loss of funds.
In a joint TikTok video, they said the confusion came from changing the name on the account to a alias for their neighbour, ‘Erin Howell’ who allegedly started the whole donations page, and using Amy’s pre-existing account to do so.
Further to their statement, Amy told NewsNation, that their story is ‘true’.
"Every single detail regarding my 81-year-old father's grueling work and my mother's active cancer battle is 100% true," she said.
"The video captured a real, genuine moment of familial struggle, and our neighbor is a real person who desperately wanted to help us. Because she wanted to remain anonymous, we used my account and a placeholder name on the profile solely as a privacy shield to protect her from a viral internet storm.
"(GoFundMe) shut down my dad's lifeline without a second thought. We are moving past their cold corporate bureaucracy. Our active fundraiser is transparently live right now on GiveSendGo, where the focus belongs entirely on helping my dad retire and supporting my mom."
She went on to claim that the neighbour is a real person, but because Don allegedly wasn’t sure how to create a fundraiser, she and Erin used Amy’s account, believing it would be more legitimate as it was preestablished.
"There are so many scams out there," Amy said. "We honestly thought because I had a page with a history where I had donated before to different charities ... that's the reason we used my GoFundMe."
Amy then said she had changed the name on her GoFundMe account to that of Erin’s, stating: "The one thing was she wanted to stay anonymous. She wanted it out there, but she didn't want any kind of thing coming back to her."
However, she claims the backlash drawn from the GoFundMe has since scared away the neighbour into not wanting to be part of the crowdfunding efforts.
"At this point ... she doesn't even want to do it," Amy said. "We want to get away from that part."
According to the outlet, Don provided them with proof of his work, confirming his employment status.
Britt Jones