Hayley Erbert and her husband Derek Hough returned to the DWTS stage Thursday, marking the one-year anniversary of her emergency brain surgery.

Erbert, 30, underwent a craniectomy last year after being diagnosed with a cranial hematoma from a burst blood vessel following a performance.

Hough, 39, shared their emotional return to the same stage where the medical emergency occurred.

“It’s been exactly one year since Hayley almost lost her life,

” Hough wrote on Instagram.Hayley Erbert provides update after skull surgery

“We returned to the very same stage, the same room where we once felt so much fear and uncertainty.

A place where I stood frozen, terrified, praying for a miracle.

“During the performance, Hough invited the doctor who he credited with saving Erbert’s life to join them onstage.

He praised his wife’s resilience throughout her recovery.

“We changed the story of that room.

We transformed it, from fear to beauty, from uncertainty to faith, and from despair to triumph,” Hough wrote.After the performance,

Erbert told PEOPLE: “It was extremely special to be out here.

This fall was always the most welcoming energy and it was beautiful to be here, to be able to share it with him.

And I’m just grateful to be here.”

Hough admitted that during her recovery, he never imagined they would dance together again.

“It was not even a thought like, ‘Oh, we’re going to dance again,’ honestly,” he said.

“Tonight was just sort of the beginning of telling the full story,” Hough continued.

“We shared a little bit more video and photos of what had happened to show us something to the extent of the severity of it.

But this is the beginning and there’s so much more to tell this story and we’re so excited to share the rest of it.”