Actress Jamie Lynn Spears revealed how her family talks about daughter Maddie’s near-death accident five years later and said they don’t see it as an “accident anniversary” but a “miracle” one.
The 31-year-old singer and sister of Britney Spears told Page Six that her 14-year-old daughter Maddie understands she is lucky to be alive after the accident in 2017 and said her family knows not everyone has been so lucky.
When Maddie was 8 years old she went for a ride on her ATV and ended up crashing it, sending her into a pond where she was submerged underwater for some time. After being rescued and sent to the hospital, Maddie ended up suffering no brain damage and fully recovered.
“We did a lot of work, obviously, to process it and now it’s more about focusing on the positive and the fact that it is a miracle — and that is not the case for so many people,” the actress explained.
Jamie Lynn Spears: How Maddie, 14, and I discuss her near-fatal accident today https://t.co/XmV13xSItl pic.twitter.com/8C6HBnnrV6
— Page Six (@PageSix) December 27, 2022
“We were blessed,” she added. “Things like that don’t just happen for no reason.”
“That’s how we discuss it now,” Spears continued. “It’s our miracle anniversary, not our accident anniversary. And both Maddie and I are so grateful.”
In the upcoming reality show, “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test,” the “Zoey 101” star relived that traumatic yet incredible miracle day after she did a terrifying helicopter challenge for the show, the outlet noted.
“The way they used the physical elements to bring out this mental healing was really important,” Spears shared. “Obviously, having to go through that experience with Maddie was very tragic for me.”
“And even though it turned out to be a miracle and she survived, all the water and the elements involved in the helicopter mission was tough for me,” she added. “The second I was asked if I was OK, I threw up. My body remembered the trauma of Maddie’s accident, but it was also super healing.”
“I cried for, like, the next hour after that,” Spears continued. “I needed that. I never, really, I think, allowed myself to go there and the only way to get there emotionally and mentally was if I physically pushed myself. It’s intense, but I’ll say it worked.”
Her new Special Forces reality show, featuring more than a dozen other celebrities, premieres on Fox Wednesday, January 4 at 8 p.m.