Maddie Watson is turning her near-fatal ATV accident into purpose. The 18-year-old daughter of Jamie Lynn Spears revealed she's determined to become a pediatrician, crediting the harrowing incident from nine years ago with sparking her medical ambitions.
"Hopefully I'll end up going to medical school and end up being a pediatrician," Maddie told People in an interview published June 20. "That's what I really want to do."
Jamie Lynn said her daughter "would be a great pediatrician," adding with a laugh, "My daughter's a doctor! It's really cool. She's giving me something to brag about." Maddie will study health sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi this fall.
In February 2017, an 8-year-old Maddie was driving an ATV near her family's Louisiana home when it flipped into a pond and pinned her underwater. She was airlifted to the hospital in a coma for two days. Jamie Lynn recalled that a priest came to administer last rites.
Then came the miracle. "He comes in, and she physically sits up in all her restraints and tubes," Jamie Lynn said. "I'm screaming for the doctors, like, 'Come in here now!' Even the priest was like, 'I've never seen anything like what's happening.'"
While Maddie can't remember the accident itself, she's aware of its impact. "I feel like our faith got a lot stronger," the teen explained. "In the end, I think such a negative experience affected us positively."
Jamie Lynn marks what she calls the "miracle anniversary" every year. For Maddie, channelling that second chance into helping children as a doctor is the full circle outcome.
