Taylor Swift Donates $15,000 to the Firefighter Who Saved His Own Family From a Car Wreck

Earlier this week, the story of Thomas Lake, Texas, firefighter Aaron Van Riper went viral — called to attend a rescue operation following a serious car crash, Van Riper arrived on the scene to find the crash's victims were his wife Amber and 7-year-old son Jonathan. Both survived the incident; Jonathan has since been released from hospital following surgeries on his arm and leg, while Amber, who was ejected from her car during the crash, "still has some hurdles to overcome," Van Riper wrote on Facebook earlier this week, but is recovering.

The Van Riper family do not have health insurance, so a GoFundMe page was set up to help them with their medical bills. As their story gained media attention this week, donations begun to pour in — in four days, over $100,000 has been raised. And $15,000 of that total came from Taylor Swift. Taylor favorited a BuzzFeed report on the story Thursday, and shortly afterward, the five-figure donation in her name appeared on GoFundMe.
In previous instances, Taylor has kept her charitable donations on the down low, at least comparatively — like the time she reportedly donated to a homeless fan using her cats' initials. Her hospital visits, gift packages for fans, and other good deeds have been more noticeable, because we all love a good cry on the Internet.