Derek Hough & Wife Hayley Return to Stage Where She Nearly Died

Derek Hough‘s wife Hayley Erbert Hough made an inspirational comeback on the stage where she nearly lost her life.

The Dancing With the Stars troupe member has been on her husband’s Dance for the Holidays Tour for more than a month and on Nov. 24, she and the series judge returned to perform at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., where she suffered a cranial hematoma during a 2023 performance that prompted her to undergo emergency skull surgery.

“Obviously, tonight, it’s a very, very special night, to be back here on this stage, one year later,” Derek said, standing beside Hayley and several more dancers, as seen in a video shared on the couple’s Instagram pages Dec. 6. “To change the story of this room, of this stage, to something beautiful.”

Hayley, 30, had been performing with Derek, 39, one of his Symphony of Dance tour shows at the same venue on Dec. 6, 2023 when she became disoriented. She was rushed to a hospital and diagnosed with a cranial hematoma from a burst blood vessel.

She underwent an emergency craniectomy, in which part of her skull was removed to ease pressure on her brain, and later had an implant installed in another operation.