Published: 3:45 PM PST, December 15, 2023
Derek Hough offers another health update for his wife Hayley Erbert, who is undergoing further surgery after undergoing an emergency craniectomy due to a brain bleed earlier this month.
The “Dancing With the Stars” pro took to Instagram on Friday and shared a video showing the couple walking along the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC. The video – set to the tune of “Chasing Cars” – shows them walking towards the Washington Monument, which is visible from afar.
The couple walks wrapped up, and Erbert can also be seen wearing a protective helmet. In the lengthy caption, Hough shared that life was challenging “due to a life-threatening event that suddenly came into our lives.” He added that his wife was “doing well” but that the recovery process had been “nothing short of a miracle.”
“She still has a ways to go, with another operation hopefully in a few weeks to insert a cranial implant to replace the part that was removed in the craniectomy,” he added. “It will restore the natural shape of the skull and protect the brain from injury.”
Hough then thanked everyone for their support, which was “a profound reminder of how fragile life can be and how quickly things can change.”
The update comes a week after Hough shared the reason for Erbert's hospitalization. At the time, he announced that Erbert was “now on the long road to recovery.” According to the Mayo Clinic, a cranial hematoma is “a collection of blood in the skull” that is “usually caused by a ruptured blood vessel in the brain. It can also be caused by a trauma such as a car accident or a fall. The blood can pool in brain tissue or under the skull and press on the brain.”
Hough's sister and fellow Dancing With the Stars star Julianne Hough had also implored fans to keep her brother and sister-in-law in their prayers.
“Please pray and send all your love, healing and light to Hayley and Derek,” she wrote. “Thank you from the bottom of our family’s hearts!”
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