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Jamie Lynn Spears Opens Up About Her 11-Year-Old Daughter's Near-Fatal ATV Accident

Updated August 22, 2021

Jamie Lynn Spears, who rose to fame as the star of Zoey 101 and has since had successful careers as both a country music singer and an actress, has opened up about her 12-year-old daughter Maddie's near-fatal ATV accident in 2017 on an episode of Better Together With Maria Menounos. She detailed the harrowing experience and explained how it changed her outlook on life.

“My oldest daughter was in a really bad accident," Jamie began.

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Jamie explained that her daughter, who was 8 years old at the time, was riding on an ATV near the rest of the family "with every safety measure that could be taken" when she "somehow or another, drove into the water."

"We dove in and we were able to rescue her," Jamie explained.

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Jamie revealed then that eventually they were "finally able to get her out of the water," but when "the first responders took her from me, we thought she was gone. We thought we lost our daughter."

"That moment, I felt everything that you can feel, I think, as far as the worst."

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"There's nothing worse than looking at your child and just feeling that you've failed her. And I didn't want her to think that I couldn't save her," Jamie said, getting emotional at the memory.

Earlier this year, Jamie had shared photographs of Maddie's hospital stay on Instagram.

"She wasn't responding to anything and so it was not looking good for us," Jamie continued.

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Jamie explained that things looked so bleak that they even arranged for a priest to be by Maddie's bedside. "He went to put the oil on her and read the rites and she sat up and started kicking, and her hands started grabbing at all the things. That was our first sign that she was there," she said.

"I’ve faced my worst fear now. What else can I mess up or do wrong that will be as horrible as that? Nothing. There's nothing."

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"God gave me the blessing of giving me my daughter back. I lost her and I got her back," Jamie explained. "So I don't get to make any excuses. I've been given the best the biggest blessing you can be given."