Taylor Swift contributes $50,000 to Connecticut mother injured rescuing teens on rainy highway

Taylor Swift has pledged $50,000 to a GoFundMe campaign supporting Ashley Taunton, a 42-year-old certified nursing assistant from Connecticut who was critically injured while assisting three teenagers after their vehicle hydroplaned on a rain-soaked stretch of I-95 South in Rhode Island on July 18. While attempting to move the teens away from danger, a second vehicle lost control and struck Taunton, causing multiple fractured ribs, a ruptured diaphragm, internal bleeding and damage to her liver and spleen, necessitating hospitalization at Rhode Island Hospital and a projected year-long rehabilitation.

The donation, accompanied by a brief note from Swift, is the fundraiser’s largest individual contribution and follows the singer’s pattern of sizable gifts to charitable causes. Taunton later learned that one of the teens she saved was Vinny, the son of her close friend Jamie O’Rourke, who praised her courage publicly. The fundraiser also aims to assist Taunton’s husband Joe and their three children with medical and living expenses during her recovery. Swift’s involvement highlights her ongoing commitment to supporting individuals facing sudden hardship.