Taylor Swift donates $50,000 to mother who was seriously injured in car accident

Taylor Swift has donated $50,000 to help a Rhode Island mother who was left seriously injured in car accident last month, NBC News has confirmed.

Ashley Taunton, a married mother of three, was driving on I-95 in Hopkinton during a torrential rainstorm on July 18 when she saw a car in front of her hydroplane off the road. She pulled over and ran to help the teenagers inside the crashed vehicle, her husband, Joe Taunton, told NBC affiliate WJAR of Providence.

As she was helping them, another vehicle hydroplaned and barreled toward them, he said.

“In a split-second act of pure bravery, Ashley pushed the other person out of harm’s way, taking the brunt of the impact herself,” according to an online fundraiser to support her medical bills.

Joe Taunton said his wife 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. She has undergone at least three surgeries, he said.

Ashley Taunton has documented her recovery on social media, sharing photos from her hospital bed while in an induced coma, with a nasogastric tube for a small bowel obstruction, staples on her stomach, and — more recently — back home in a leg brace.

On Friday, she posted on Instagram about Swift’s donation, writing: “This is absolutely mind-blowing and so very humbling.”

“@taylorswift you are a beautiful soul I wish I could hug you IRL. Maybe the next time your in Westerly 😘 I live 20 minutes away 🫶 Thank you Jesus for so many amazing humans. This is unbelievable and I am overwhelmed with gratitude. To God be the glory!” she wrote.