Taylor Swift Donates $50K to Crash Hero

Taylor Swift gave $50,000 to Ashley Taunton, a mom hurt saving teens from a highway crash.

On July 18, Ashley Taunton, a married mother of three, was driving on I-95 in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, during a torrential rainstorm when she saw a car hydroplane off the road ahead of her. She pulled over and ran to help the teenagers inside, according to an account her husband, Joe Taunton, gave to NBC affiliate WJAR of Providence. As she was assisting them, another vehicle hydroplaned and barreled toward the group. In what her family's fundraiser called a split-second act of pure bravery, Ashley pushed the other person out of harm's way and took the brunt of the impact herself.

The crash left Taunton with life-threatening injuries and what her family describes as a very long and difficult road ahead. NBC News reports that, per her husband, she suffered a severe leg injury and extensive internal injuries, including damage to her small and large intestines, liver lacerations, and a ruptured diaphragm that caused one of her lungs to collapse, and that she has undergone at least three surgeries. Then, on August 28, Taylor Swift donated $50,000 to the GoFundMe set up by family friend Laura Ortelt, writing alongside it: "Wishing you the best recovery possible and sending love to your family! Taylor."

Taunton learned of the gift while documenting her recovery on social media, where she has shared photos from her hospital bed in an induced coma and, more recently, from home in a leg brace. "This is absolutely mind-blowing and so very humbling," she wrote on Instagram on August 28, adding, "@taylorswift you are a beautiful soul I wish I could hug you IRL." E! News reports that Swifties are following her lead, flooding the fundraiser with $13 contributions in honor of Swift's favorite number, and that the GoFundMe had received over $75,000 of its $110,000 goal as of August 29.

Despite the attention, Taunton has consistently deflected hero labels. "It feels weird if people call me a hero," she told People in an interview published August 23, per E! News. "I'm just a mom. Somebody was hurting. That's just what you do. But I'm glad that I was there at that moment." A former nursing assistant, she still faces ongoing surgeries and recovery from her injuries, and the fundraiser notes she put others before herself, as she always does. Swift's donation and the wave of fan contributions have lifted the campaign past the halfway mark toward its goal as her healing continues.