NEWSJamie Lynn Spears Thought Her Daughter 'Had Passed' After Near-Fatal ATV Accident: 'We Were Given a Miracle'
Jamie Lynn Spears opened up about her daughter Maddie's terrifying accident.
June 17 2026, Published 5:32 p.m. ET
Jamie Lynn Spears recounted her daughter Maddie’s near-death experience in an ATV accident in 2017.
The now 17-year-old was only 8 when a sharp turn on the vehicle landed her upside down in a pond at the family’s home in Fluker, La.
“We were watching her, and we still don't quite know if she was dodging a dog or what it was,” Jamie Lynn shared in a new interview.
“She went in the water, and me, my father-in-law and my husband ran as fast as we could to go jump in to get her out, but she was stuck under the ATV,” she added.
Jamie Lynn Spears said she watched as her daughter sunk an ATV into a pond.
Her mother-in-law called 911. Moments later, first responders were pulling Maddie’s limp body out of the water.
Jamie Lynn thought she had already lost her daughter.
“It was really not a sight anybody wants to see," Jamie Lynn recalled to People. "At that point, she was not breathing. We thought that she had passed."
Firefighters eventually found a pulse, and Maddie was airlifted to a hospital where she was in a coma for two days.
'We Were Given a Miracle'
Jamie Lynn Spears recalled thinking she had lost Maddie for good.
Nonetheless, a priest came in to read Maddie's last rites as the family prepared to mourn her death.
Jamie Lynn described her daughter “physically sitting up in all her restraints and tube” the moment the priest began to read.
“Even the priest was like, 'I've never seen anything like what's happening,'” Jamie Lynn spilled. “I knew she was in there and felt all of us praying. We were given a miracle, and I don't take it for granted.”
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Jamie Lynn Spears promised God she would have another child if Maddie survived.
Jamie Lynn bargained with God in hopes of bringing her back to life.
“I was like, 'I'll have a baby. I'll have whatever you want,’” she recalled. When Maddie finally awoke, one of the first things she asked for was a baby sister.
Just a few months later, Jamie Lynn found out she was pregnant with her youngest daughter, Ivey. Jamie Lynn welcomed Ivey, now 8, with her husband, Jamie Watson, in 2018.
“We always say she went up to heaven to go pick out her little sister," Jamie Lynn said. "Ivey's like, 'So you did all of that to find me?'"
Jamie Lynn gave birth to Maddie as a 15-year-old teen mom in 2008. The pregnancy famously coincided with the end of her Nickelodeon show, Zoey 101.
'Against All Odds'
Jamie Lynn Spears said she'll never forget the day she almost lost her daughter.
Nearly a decade later, Maddie is still grateful for the support she received as a child while recovering from the tragic accident.
“It made me realize how blessed I am," Maddie said. "It really made me so grateful for every day."
The teen, who is headed to the University of Southern Mississippi in August, first opened up about her crash in 2025.
"I was in a coma, and I came back to life, and I’m very blessed,” Maddie expressed. “So yeah, I've just been very accident-prone. I swear my parents are amazing and they did not do anything to me."
Jamie Lynn says she will never forget that day.
“That was the day I thought I'd lost my daughter," she added. "Against all odds, this baby girl fought to be here.”
