Taylor Swift donates $50,000 to mom facing medical bills after she was critically injured saving teens from Rhode Island highway crash

“When I see there’s somebody in trouble, I tend to want to go help,” Taunton told People.

She stopped roughly 30 yards from the wreck and walked toward the damaged vehicle, where she found a teenage driver and two teenage passengers. They were shaken and had suffered minor injuries, but otherwise appeared to be okay. Then, another vehicle came barreling toward them.

According to a crash report reviewed by People, the driver lost control on the rain-slicked roadway and hydroplaned while traveling in the second southbound lane of I-95.

Taunton pushed the teenager closest to her out of the vehicle’s path and was struck by the oncoming car instead.

The cost of courage

Taunton remembers the impact less as a collision than as something closer to an explosion.

“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,” she said. Her daughter then rushed to her side as they waited for help, worried that she wouldn’t survive her injuries.

The crash left Taunton with serious injuries throughout her body. Her husband, Joe, told NBC that she suffered major damage to her leg and several internal organs, including her intestines and liver. Her diaphragm was also ruptured, leading to a collapsed lung. She has undergone at least three surgeries as part of her treatment.

The price tag of recovery

For Taunton, surviving the crash was only the beginning. In the U.S., the body may be well on the way to healing before the bills even start coming.

Even with health insurance, a medical emergency can cost thousands. A Peterson-KFF analysis found that an emergency room visit for people covered by large-employer health plans cost an average of $2,453, with patients paying $646 out of pocket.

Hospitalization can drive those costs considerably higher. The average inpatient hospital stay costs about $16,667, or roughly $3,086 per day, according to data cited by SonderCare Learning Center. What a patient ultimately pays, however, can vary widely depending on factors such as insurance coverage, location and whether the hospital admission was planned or the result of an emergency.

And then there is the expense that never appears on a hospital statement: lost income.

For someone recovering from injuries as serious as Taunton’s, time away from work can create another layer of financial strain. Nursing assisting is also physically demanding, often requiring workers to lift or move patients, which could make returning to the job especially difficult.

A Swift miracle

As Taunton begins what doctors expect could be a recovery lasting up to 12 months, she has been sharing pieces of that journey on social media, including her disbelief when she saw Swift’s name among those helping her family.

“@taylorswift you are a beautiful soul I wish I could hug you IRL … Thank you Jesus for so many amazing humans. This is unbelievable and I am overwhelmed with gratitude. To God be the glory!” she wrote on Instagram.