Jamie Lynn Spears has a reason to be grateful this week.
A very cute, very precious, very special reason, we should say.
Just over two weeks ago, the former actress’ only child was involved in a scary accident.
Little Maddie Aldridge, at only 8 years old, was driving around her family’s property in a child’s ATV when she swerved to avoid a drainage ditch.
But the maneuver caused the vehicle to flip over, landing Maddie face-first in a pond.
Jamie Lynn and her husband, also named Jamie, rushed over to rescue their daughter, but were unable to free Maddie from her seatbelt.
Fortunately, paramedics arrived quickly on the scene… got Maddie loose… loaded her into an ambulance … and rushed her to a local hospital.
For the first couple of days, it was unclear whether the little girl would survive.
“The Spears family asks that everyone respect their privacy during this time and appreciates all the prayers and support for their family,” said a spokesperson soon after news of the crash went public.
Thankfully, however, Maddie not only survived the ordeal; she recovered faster than anyone could have imagined.
Five days after the frightening crash, Jamie Lynn’s daughter was headed home.
And now, 19 days after the incident, she’s resuming nearly each of her activities, as evidenced by a new video Spears shared on Instagram:
“1st Basketball practice today #Godisgood,” Spears captioned the above footage of her child practicing passing drills with her team.
Pretty good form there, Maddie!
“When she woke up… everybody was crying because it was such a miracle,” a friend of Maddie’s father, Casey Aldridge, told People Magazine.
There really was a period there when Maddie’s loved ones feared the worst.
“The doctors did a lot of tests before she woke up, and it was encouraging, but still – no one knew for sure,” this friend said., adding:
“Everyone was really worried because they didn’t know how bad the brain injury was. They didn’t know if she was going to recognize them or if she’d ever be the same.”
So far, however, so good.
Maddie is not all the way back to her old self, but she got to hand out Valentines at school last week and she most definitely recognizes all her relatives.
God really is good, isn’t he?
We continue to send our very best wishes to Maddie, Jamie Lynn and everyone close to this family.