Jamie Lynn Spears is mourning someone very important to her family — Father Mark, the priest who supported her when her daughter Maddie was left in a coma in 2017 following a serious ATV accident.
The Zoey 102 star, 32, shared a tribute to the priest on Instagram following his death, writing an emotional message in the caption that was so long she had to continue it in the post itself.
“Our community is experiencing a tremendous loss after the tragic passing of Father Mark,” she wrote alongside several photos of her family with the priest, as well as a photo of Maddie, 15, when she was in the ICU six years ago.
The actress went on to write that, instead of using her words — “no words could even come close to explaining the gift that Father Mark was” — she would tell a story as a “testament to how special he was.”
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“In 2017, me and my family were in our darkest hour as we [watched] my little [girl’s] lifeless body, while she was in a coma with a machine breathing for her, & things did not look good,” she began. “My mama or one of her friends had already let Father Mark know of our situation, so he made his way to us, even as inconvenient as it may have been to drive over an hour out of his way on a Super Bowl Sunday of all things.”
Spears continued, “He waited a long time in the waiting room with friends and family, as we were in an ICU for the most severe situations, & you could only have minimal [people] come back, but finally, they let him back, after I begged and pleaded, please let Father Mark back to pray over my baby girl.”
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The former Nickelodeon star continued the story of the “miracle” in the slides of her post, writing that when Father Mark was allowed into the ICU room and began praying, Maddie started moving around “as if it was a dream.”
“I immediately start screaming for a nurse, a doctor, anyone to witness that she was not gone, she was still there,” Spears recalled, adding that the priest continued his prayer despite the chaos of the situation.
Jamie Lynn Spears’ oldest daughter, Maddie, experienced an ATV accident in 2017.
Jamie Lynn Spears/Instagram
She explained that when Maddie ultimately made a full recovery — which doctors declared a “miracle” at the time — the late priest took “no credit at all.”
“I owe a lot to Father, & this is just my one, singular experience with him,” she continued. “He did this for so many, & brought a whole community back to life & back to God. He was a rock for so many, & we all felt safe knowing that he was a little piece of heaven on earth, an angel, a saint, or whatever you want to call it, & you knew the Spirit was always near when he was here.”
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“Selfishly, we wanted him to stay here with us forever, but we also know that he is now back in heaven where he truly belongs,” she concluded her post. “Thank God for letting us have Father Mark for the time we did. He may be physically gone, but his impact during his time on earth will live on forever.”
Three years ago, on the third anniversary of Maddie’s tragic accident, Spears shared a post calling it “the day my whole world stopped.”
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“It started like most [Sundays], going to church, visiting family, to suddenly trying to save my daughter’s life, to them taking her away, to us believing we had lost her forever,” she wrote in the post. “And it literally felt like the world stood still around me.”
She continued, “I have never spoken fully in detail about that day, and the events that followed, but what I will share is that God blessed us with a true miracle.”
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Since making a full recovery, Maddie, together with Spears’ 5-year-old daughter, Ivey Joan, have followed in their mom’s footsteps, making a cameo in her new Paramount+ film Zoey 102.
When chatting with Entertainment Tonight about the “special moment” in the movie — which follows the lives of the Zoey 101 characters — and what it meant to her, Spears said, “Having my two girls be a part of this film and get to make their little debut cameo … was so special because they got to do it together.”
“Just seeing those two worlds collide, it was a really proud moment for me as a mom,” she added.
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Source: HIS Education