Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert delivered a moving performance in the ballroom on Tuesday night’s episode of “Dancing with the Stars.”

The duo brought the “DWTS” audience to tears as they danced to Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things (Acoustic)” during the show’s “Dedication Night,” marking Erbert’s return to the “DWTS” dance floor following her emergency craniectomy and cranioplasty in December 2023. .

“This was obviously the most challenging thing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life, physically and mentally,” Erbert said after their performance. “It was a tough job for all of us as a family and I, you never know what you’re capable of until you experience something like this.”

“So I’m really proud of myself, I’m proud of my body and how I got through this,” she added.

Erbert underwent an emergency craniectomy in early December 2023, during their Symphony of Dance tour in Washington, DC. Hough shared in an Instagram post at the time that Erbert “became disoriented” and “was diagnosed with a brain hematoma due to a ruptured blood vessel. and required an emergency craniectomy.”

The procedure is typically performed in emergency situations, which relieves pressure on the brain, according to StatPearls, an online library published in the National Library of Medicine.

Later in December 2023, Erbert underwent cranioplasty, which according to the National Library of Medicine, “is the surgical procedure to repair skull defects in both cosmetic and functional ways.” It is performed “usually after traumatic injuries.”

“It was a crazy time,” Hough said, reflecting on Erbert’s health emergency in a recorded piece played before their performance. “Hayley and I hit the road again for the final leg of the tour. Living our dreams on stage, doing what we love with the person we love, and then it all came to a halt in the most devastating way. . “

Hough, who calls his wife his “beautiful miracle,” said Erbert had to learn to walk again and regain her strength.

Despite the challenges she faced, Hough said Erbert always “had a smile on her face.”

“I was so impressed with her strength,” he said.

He added that the dance was “a moment for us to be together on stage again and do what we love.”

“The fact that we can dance together again is nothing short of a miracle,” Hough said. “I’m just beyond grateful. I’m so grateful.”

Erbert called Hough her “rock through everything.”

In February, the couple shared a video update on Instagram, in which Erbert talked about her “new outlook on life” and how “grateful” she is “to be alive and to be here to tell my story.”

The duo returned to their Symphony of Dance tour in April. Since then, Erbert and Hough have kept their fans informed via social media.

In August, the couple celebrated one year of marriage and shared a joint Instagram post about their “whirlwind of a year.”

“One year of being married to the most beautiful person I know,” Erbert said in the caption of the post. “We have seen the highest highs and experienced the lowest lows, but I have never been more confident that a year ago I made the best decision of my life and committed myself to you in this life.”

“Cheers to many more years of chaotic beauty,” she added. “I’m so excited about all the future chapters we have yet to write. I love you always and forever.”

See more beautiful dedications behind each star’s performance here.