{"id":51620,"date":"2026-06-25T12:14:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=51620"},"modified":"2026-06-25T12:14:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:14:58","slug":"jamie-lynn-spears-reveals-priest-read-her-daughters-last-rites-after-near-fatal-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/06\/jamie-lynn-spears-reveals-priest-read-her-daughters-last-rites-after-near-fatal-accident.html","title":{"rendered":"Jamie Lynn Spears Reveals Priest Read Her Daughter&#8217;s Last Rites After Near-Fatal Accident"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_51623\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51623\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/06\/Jamie-Lynn-Spears_credit-Kathy-Hutchins-Shutterstock-Inset-jamielynnspears-Instagram.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-51623\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/06\/Jamie-Lynn-Spears_credit-Kathy-Hutchins-Shutterstock-Inset-jamielynnspears-Instagram.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-51623\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kathy Hutchins \/ Shutterstock.com | Inset: @jamielynnspears \/ Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When Jamie Lynn Spears looks back on the darkest moment of her life, she doesn&#8217;t just remember fear\u2014she remembers what she believes was a miracle.<\/p>\n<p>The former &#8220;Zoey 101&#8221; star is opening up about her daughter Maddie&#8217;s devastating 2017 ATV accident, revealing that a Catholic priest was called to administer last rites after the then-8-year-old slipped into a coma following the near-fatal crash.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking with People, Spears recalled the terrifying hours after Maddie drove a Polaris ATV into a pond at her stepfather Jamie Watson&#8217;s family home in Fluker, Louisiana. Authorities said Maddie had attempted to avoid a drainage ditch before the vehicle plunged into the water. Spears, her husband, and her father-in-law rushed into the pond to rescue her, but Maddie was trapped beneath the ATV.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We were watching her, and we still don&#8217;t quite know if she was dodging a dog or what it was,&#8221; Spears said. &#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After being rescued, Maddie remained in a coma for two days. As doctors fought to save her life, Spears said a priest was brought in to perform last rites, a sacred Catholic tradition typically reserved for those believed to be nearing death.<\/p>\n<p>Then everything changed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Following much prayer,&#8221; Spears recalled hearing a firefighter suddenly shout that Maddie had a pulse. What happened next left everyone in the room stunned.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He comes in, and she physically sits up in all her restraints and tubes,&#8221; Spears told People. &#8220;I&#8217;m screaming for the doctors, like, &#8216;Come in here now!&#8217; Even the priest was like, &#8216;I&#8217;ve never seen anything like what&#8217;s happening.&#8217; I knew she was in there and felt all of us praying. We were given a miracle, and I don&#8217;t take it for granted.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She added, &#8220;Against all odds, this baby girl fought to be here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For Spears, the experience permanently changed her perspective on faith. Although Maddie, now 18, has no memory of the accident, her mother says the ordeal strengthened their family&#8217;s trust in God.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I feel like our faith got a lot stronger,&#8221; Spears said. &#8220;In the end, I think such a negative experience affected us positively.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The frightening episode also influenced a major family decision. Spears shared that Maddie had long wanted a younger sibling, and while her daughter lay unconscious, the actress found herself desperately bargaining with God.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;Take my arm, take my leg. I don&#8217;t care. Just give me my baby back,&#8221; she remembered praying. &#8220;&#8216;I&#8217;ll have a baby. I&#8217;ll have whatever you want.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After Maddie awoke from the coma, she had one unforgettable question for her mother: &#8220;You going to give me that baby?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Spears kept that promise. In 2018, she and Watson welcomed daughter Ivey Joan, giving Maddie the little sister she had hoped for.<\/p>\n<p>Stories like Maddie&#8217;s remind believers why faith often grows strongest in life&#8217;s most difficult moments. While doctors and first responders played a critical role in her recovery, Spears remains convinced that countless prayers carried her daughter through a situation that once seemed impossible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Jamie Lynn Spears looks back on the darkest moment of her life, she doesn&#8217;t just remember fear\u2014she remembers what she believes was a miracle. The former &#8220;Zoey 101&#8221; star is opening up about her daughter Maddie&#8217;s devastating 2017 ATV accident, revealing that a Catholic priest was called to administer last rites after the then-8-year-old&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":51623,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Jamie Lynn Spears Reveals Priest Read Her Daughter&#039;s Last Rites After Near-Fatal Accident<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jamie Lynn Spears says a priest read daughter Maddie&#039;s last rites before a miraculous recovery that strengthened her family&#039;s 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