Reality TV Star’s Daughter Breaks Silence on Near-Death Ordeal originally appeared on Parade.
The older daughter of Jamie Lynn Spears has spoken for the first time about the accident that nearly took her life.
Spears, the sister of iconic singer Britney Spears, has previously referenced the frightening incident. She has appeared on reality television shows such as Dancing with the Stars, Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, and the U.K. show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here.
Now, Spears’ 17-year-old daughter, Maddie Watson, referred to the harrowing accident herself.
On August 13, Watson published a YouTube video on her new channel. It wasn’t her first video, but it was the longest she had shared so far. Watson explained that her goal with the YouTube channel was to document her senior year.
In this video, however, Watson took some time to reflect on how accident-prone and “injury-prone” she was throughout her childhood. She mentioned having asthma, which led to numerous hospital visits, and she experienced injuries to her ankle, wrist, knee, hips, and back over the years.
She noted, “But, I’ve never broke[n] my neck. I did have an accident, though. I was in a coma, and I came back to life, and I’m very blessed.”
Aldridge quipped, “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 Spears’ Daughter Nearly Died in an ATV Accident
As People noted, Spears talked about the incident during her time on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here.” The accident happened in 2017, when Watson was still quite young.
“I almost lost my oldest daughter … She drowned and we couldn’t save her,” Spears revealed. She continued, “We tried really hard. She was trapped under a little side-by-side that we ride around our pond.”
Spears added, “My father-in-law, my mother-in-law, me, and my husband, we run to jump in to save her, and you kind of — in that moment you think, ‘This is not real. She’s going to pop up, this isn’t real.'”
The reality TV veteran shared, “I could feel her arm, and I’m jerking it, I couldn’t get her up because it’s a pretty heavy machine. In that moment, you think, you know logically she’s been underwater too long.”
Spears’ mother-in-law had immediately called 911, and emergency personnel quickly arrived as the family worked on rescuing Watson. “[Maddie] was caught in the safety netting. So when they got there, she was not alive. They took her from me, and they intubated her,” Spears recalled.
Watson was airlifted to the hospital and placed on life support. The family even brought in a priest to do her last rites. “Her spirit responded to it for whatever reason. She got better and better every day and walked out of the hospital. [She] has had no repercussions,” Spears explained.
The Reality TV Alum Is Proud of Her Daughter for Persevering
Spears shared her daughter’s video on her Instagram page and included a heartwarming caption. She noted the YouTube channel “has now turned into a way for [Watson] to share the not so fun parts of her life too.”
She added, “I’m so proud of this kid, she never lets anything or anyone sit her down, and sharing her journey through it all hopefully inspires others to never stop going hard for what they want out of life.”
Reality TV Star’s Daughter Breaks Silence on Near-Death Ordeal first appeared on Parade on Aug 14, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
