Maddie Spears Gets Christmas ATV After Near-Tragic Accident
Jamie Lynn Spears’ 17-year-old daughter, Maddie, received a new all-terrain vehicle for Christmas nearly nine years after her serious accident.
“Merry CHRISTMAS ✝️🤶🏻🎀🎄🎁,” Spears, 34, captioned a series of holiday photos on Thursday, December 26.
In one of the images, a cherry-red four-wheeled vehicle was parked in the garage and decorated with a red bow and card that read, “Maddie!”
Maddie and her 7-year-old sister, Ivey, later sat on the ATV on Christmas morning in a subsequent holiday photo.
Jamie Lynn Spears' Daughter Maddie Discusses 2017 ATV Accident for the First Time
Spears shares Maddie with her former partner Casey Aldridge and Ivey with her husband, Jamie Watson. Maddie primarily resides with her mom and stepfather in Louisiana.
Maddie was riding an all-terrain vehicle in February 2017 when the vehicle overturned into a pond. She was knocked unconscious and remained submerged underwater for several minutes. Maddie was ultimately airlifted to a local hospital for treatment.
“I did experience an accident, though. I was in a coma and I returned to life, and I’m very grateful,” Maddie recalled in an August YouTube video. “I’ve just been very prone to accidents. I swear my parents did nothing to cause it, and they were wonderful.”
After Maddie made a complete recovery, Spears commemorates that day — which she affectionately calls a “miracle” anniversary — each year.
“I’ll never forget that, because it was the day my whole world stopped,” the Sweet Magnolias actress wrote via Instagram in February 2020. “It began like most Sundays, going to church, visiting family, to suddenly trying to save my daughter’s life, to them taking her away, to us believing we had lost her forever, and it literally felt like the world stood still around me.”
Spears continued, “I have never fully detailed that day, and the events that followed, but what I will share is that God blessed us with a true miracle. Maddie not only stayed here with us, but she made a full recovery. I know so many of you prayed so hard for us, so I will never let this day pass without thanking each of you for every single prayer you offered for us.”
Maddie had never publicly spoken about her accident until her YouTube video, which she created as a way to document her senior year of high school.
Jamie Lynn Spears Encourages Teen Daughter to Be ‘So Proud’ of Aunt Britney
“I feel, like, when I’m older and I’m looking back or maybe even my kids are looking back, they can understand how I was when I was younger and how my senior year went,” the youth softball star added earlier this year. “The reason I started [this account] was because it was my senior year.”
As for Spears, she was proud of her daughter’s honesty in sharing her story.
“What was intended to be a fun way to document her senior year on @youtube has now become a way for her to share the less enjoyable parts of life, too,” Spears wrote via Instagram at the time. “You can work incredibly hard, and do everything correctly, yet still face challenges, regardless of the path you’re on in life. You can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can decide how you respond to what happens to you.”
Spears further praised Maddie’s continued strength.
“I know being a resilient person is one of the best qualities a human can possess, but it’s only earned by having no other choice but to be resilient. Gotta trust God’s plan,” the former child star wrote. “I’m so proud of this young woman; she never lets anything or anyone hold her back, and sharing her journey through it all hopefully inspires others to never stop striving for what they want out of life.”
