Taylor Swift just stepped in to support Ashley Taunton, a Connecticut mother who suffered life-threatening injuries while attempting to save teenagers during a highway crash. The singer, 36, recently donated $50,000 to a GoFundMe campaign established to help Taunton and her family navigate her recovery, as confirmed by PEOPLE. This act of generosity highlights a story of incredible bravery that has touched many people since the incident occurred on July 18.
Taunton, a 42-year-old certified nursing assistant and mother of three, was driving on I-95 South in Rhode Island with her youngest daughter when she encountered the aftermath of a wreck. Per PEOPLE, Taunton explained she felt compelled to stop because she could not just keep driving. “When I see there’s somebody in trouble, I tend to want to go help,” she said. She pulled over about 30 yards from the scene and instructed her daughter to stay in the car and call her father.
As she approached the stranded vehicle, she reportedly found that the driver and two passengers were teenagers. “They were a little bit banged up, but seemed relatively okay,” she noted. Their vehicle had hydroplaned on the rainy day. As she spoke to them. another vehicle lost control on the wet, slippery road and came barreling toward them. Taunton pushed the teen closest to her, identified as 19-year-old Vinny, out of the way before the oncoming car struck her.
The aftermath
The impact was devastating. “It just felt like a big explosion,” Taunton told PEOPLE. “I just remember being on the ground and I could see my ankle was just hanging there. I went to try to get up and I couldn’t breathe.” Her daughter rushed to her side, holding her hand while they waited for emergency responders.
During that terrifying wait, Taunton feared the worst. “I knew I had internal bleeding,” she told PEOPLE. “I thought, ‘That was it.’ Then in the ambulance as well, I was just praying — I didn’t want to die.”
Taunton was admitted to Rhode Island Hospital with severe injuries, including bilateral internal carotid artery dissection, a ruptured diaphragm, multiple rib fractures, and lacerations to her liver and spleen. According to WPRI, she has already undergone multiple surgeries, including procedures to repair her diaphragm and remove sections of her small and large intestines.
Per the outlet, doctors have not provided a specific discharge date. However, she faces a recovery process that could last up to 12 months, including intensive physical therapy.
In a twist of fate, Taunton later discovered that the teenager she saved, Vinny, was the son of a woman she had been friends with for 14 years. According to the outlets, the connection came to light when the boy’s mother, Jamie O’Rourke, spotted Taunton’s husband and daughter at the hospital. Once O’Rourke learned what happened, she realized who the Good Samaritan was.
“Jamie just lost it and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that was Ashley? She saved my son’s life,’ ” Taunton recalled to PEOPLE. Speaking with WPRI, O’Rourke praised Taunton’s actions, saying, “She was so courageous to put herself in danger.”
Despite the severity of her injuries, Taunton remains focused on her faith and her gratitude for being alive. “I am so in awe of how evident God’s hand has been in all of this,” she told PEOPLE. “He just put all the right people in all the right places.” Her husband, Joe, echoed this sentiment in his conversation with WPRI, describing her survival as “nothing short of a miracle, an act of God.”
The community has rallied behind the family, with the GoFundMe page raising over $64,000 as of August 28. Additionally, according to PEOPLE, a Meal Train has been organized to provide support for Joe and their three children, with volunteers signing up to cover weeks of meals. In a different instance of a celebrity helping someone out, Justin Bieber rescued a stranded musician last year.
The GoFundMe page emphasizes that the funds are intended to help the family cover medical expenses, household bills, and travel costs for hospital commutes. Recently, a bride and nurse who collapsed on her honeymoon in Japan thanked the community for rallying to support her through a GoFundMe
Reflecting on the experience, Taunton says her outlook on life has shifted. “Life is very busy and it’s easy to postpone plans like, especially with friends and loved ones,” she told PEOPLE. “I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to make sure that I am taking time, even if it’s just going to grab a coffee with a friend, because we never know how you’re going to leave this earth.”
Published: Aug 29, 2026 04:36 pm