Derek Hough’s wife Hayley Erbert has revealed she still has medical professionals present as she prepares for an upcoming dance tour, nearly a year after undergoing an emergency brain surgery.
Erbert, 30, was hospitalized last year after she suffered a cranial hematoma while performing during their Symphony of Dance tour, and the couple recounted the ordeal on a recent episode of Dancing With The Stars.
Erbert has since returned to the stage, and she is now teaming up with her husband, 39, for their upcoming tour, Derek Hough: Dance for the Holidays.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Erbert opened up about touring in light of her health concerns and revealed she still has a medical team present.
‘I just listen to my body. Being a dancer, I feel like I’m really in tune with my body,’ she said.
‘I do have a medical team still around me,’ she said.
Derek admitted he’s the more cautious one about his wife returning to returning to her performing skills full-capacity.
‘I’m the one who I’m like, “What, what?”‘ he said.
‘It’s true, he’s the one with the nerves,’ Hayley added.
‘”We don’t need to do that,”‘ Derek recalled of him saying. ‘And she’s like, “Babe, I can do that.” But she puts my mind at ease.’
The couple will be performing at the same venue where Erbert’s health emergency occurred during their 2023 tour.
‘It’s really crazy, we’re going to the exact venue where it happened again, an entire year later. We’re going to be flooded with emotions! I know he’s really going to be feeling it,’ she said. ‘I’m really excited to just get out there and show everybody what I still can do.’
Hayley’s health journey will be the subject of a documentary being made by filmmaker Jason Bergh set for release next year.
‘He came into the studio, just kept filming, kept coming with us to hospital visits, came out on the road with us and really captured the entire journey ’cause it’s really powerful, it’s really beautiful and it’s amazing,’ Derek said.
Hayley underwent an emergency craniectomy in December 2023.
She was rushed to the hospital after suffering a cranial hematoma while they were performing at their Symphony of Dance tour in Washington D.C.
A cranial hematoma happens when blood accumulates, ‘within the brain or between the brain and the skull,’ according to Mayo Clinic.
Weeks later the Step Into… The Movies dancer underwent a cranioplasty to replace a large portion of her skull, which had been removed during the emergency procedure.
Erbert’s recovery was so successful, the couple were able to complete their 70 city Symphony of Dance tour, which ended May 19.
Since her surgery, the couple went on to celebrate their first wedding anniversary on August 26.
The couple recently recounted the terrifying health scare on an episode of Dancing With The Stars.
‘I was on stage, and she’s supposed to come out,’ Derek shared. ‘The stage manager walked out and just said, “Hey, she’s not coming on stage.” She was on the side of the stage having full seizures and, essentially, dying. It’s really hard to even put into words other than just pure fear.’
‘We rush her to the hospital, she’s still in her costume, and the doctor came to me and he said that, “She has a severe brain bleed, so we have to operate right now.”‘
‘He said that she might not make it and that even if she does make it, she won’t be the same person.’
Derek then remembered the moment when his wife woke up. ‘She goes, “What happened? Weren’t we just dancing?”‘
‘I can’t even tell you, just knowing that she was there, she was in there, the relief I felt. She was Hayley. She was my wife. And then the journey began.’
He then shared that her recovery included learning how to walk again and wearing a helmet as her skull recovered.
‘I was struggling. I was just so impressed by her strength. She’s my beautiful miracle,’ he said.
Hayley then shared that when she woke up doctors told her she might not be able to walk.
However, Hayley didn’t accept that possibility, sharing that as a ‘stubborn’ person she ‘pushed herself to the limit’ to not only walk, but to also dance again.