Taylor Swift. Photo: Emazasm via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
By Liam Coffey | September 6, 2026
Taylor Swift has donated $50,000 to a Connecticut mother who was seriously injured after stopping to help teenagers involved in a highway crash.
The donation went to a GoFundMe for Ashley Taunton, a 42-year-old mother of three from Ledyard, Connecticut. According to local reporting and the fundraiser, Taunton was driving on Interstate 95 in Rhode Island during a heavy rainstorm on July 18 when she saw a car hydroplane off the road and stopped to help the teenagers inside.
While she was assisting them, another vehicle hydroplaned toward the group. Taunton pushed one of the teenagers out of the way and was struck herself.
She suffered serious injuries, spent around a month in hospital and underwent multiple surgeries before returning home to continue her recovery.
Taylor Swift’s $50,000 donation
Swift contributed $50,000 directly to the family’s fundraiser, making her one of its largest donors.
Alongside the donation, Swift wrote: “Wishing you the best recovery possible and sending love to your family!”
Taunton later described the gesture as “absolutely mind-blowing” and said the money would help ease the financial pressure of her recovery.
And there is an extra detail that makes the story even more remarkable: Taunton later learned that the teenager she helped save was the son of a longtime friend.
Swift’s donation helped push the fundraiser past $90,000 as community support continued to pour in.
Sources: NBC Connecticut, August 31, 2026; People, September 1, 2026; Hearst Connecticut Media. Image source: Wikimedia Commons, Emazasm, CC BY 4.0.
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