A friend of a Texas firefighter set up a GoFundMe page to help a suffering local family in need--completely unaware that country turned pop artist, Taylor Swift, would subtly drop by to donate $15,000 to the cause.
Texan volunteer firefighter, Aaron Van Riper, responded to a 911 call involving a car crash. Acting as he would during any emergency, Riper rushed to the scene only to find out the victims were his 7-year-old son Jonathan and his wife, Amber.
"It's my family. My wife was laying there on the ground," Aaron Van Riper told Huntsville's ABC 13 KTRK. "[By] the look of the car, I don't know how either one of them lived. There was nothing left of that car." Jonathan suffered a broken arm and leg along with minor injuries and has since been released for the hospital while 28-year-old Amber remains hospitalized after undergoing 9 hours of pelvic surgery.
In hopes of raising money for the medical bills for the Van Riper family (who lacks health insurance), a friend quickly set up an account on GoFundMe when Wednesday night brought an unexpected donor. A lump-sum of $15,000 was contributed to the page and signed "Taylor Swift." Asking for a total of $125,000 in donations, the campaign has already seen $100,000 as it continues to grow.
Firefighter Responds To Head-On Crash, Discovers Victims Are His Wife And Son https://t.co/O7eq5NYKJf pic.twitter.com/IJVoIUUMtF
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) June 11, 2015
Later confirmed by Billboard, the generous offering was, in fact, from the 1989 singer, although Swift's representative didn't return requests for comments. She took to Twitter and even favorited Buzzfeed's tweet concerning the matter: hint, hint. The "Bad Blood" singer has been known for her charitable behavior, quiet and random acts of kindness. For three years in a row, Swift has topped DoSomething.org's list of most charitable celebrities.
