![EXCLUSIVE: Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller doesn’t flinch as a gymnast SOMERSAULTS over her during an outing to an LA beach. The reality TV star, 55, bravely lay back in her wheelchair as the muscular shirtless performer ran towards her then vaulted above her. Miller, who shot to fame as the star of hit show Dance Moms, has been using a wheelchair after undergoing surgery to remove a tumor from her spinal cord after reportedly being diagnosed with a form of cancer called Burkitt Lymphoma. Miller’s visit to the beach in Santa Monica, CA, saw her talking to a man and a woman dressed in workout gear before giving him a series of dance lessons. An onlooker said: “Abby was in great form and started giving the guy dance lessons. "She was teaching him to move and how and when to move his feet and it seemed he was struggling to get the hang of it. It was like she was back on the show Dance Moms and was shouting orders at him to ‘move to the side’ or ‘back right’. She appeared to be trying to teach him ballet just like she did to kids on the series. “It looked the guy had some gymnastic training and so afterwards they did a stunt where he ran at her and somersaulted directly above her.” Miller spent eight seasons on Dance Mom and previously taught Joelle Joanie “Jojo” Siwa. In 2017 she was sentenced to 366 days in prison for bankruptcy fraud. 31 Aug 2021 Pictured: Abbey Lee Miller. Photo credit: KAT/MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA782922_021.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Abby-Lee-Miller-Spotted-In-Wheelchair-MEGA-1.jpg?quality=100&w=282)
![EXCLUSIVE: Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller doesn’t flinch as a gymnast SOMERSAULTS over her during an outing to an LA beach. The reality TV star, 55, bravely lay back in her wheelchair as the muscular shirtless performer ran towards her then vaulted above her. Miller, who shot to fame as the star of hit show Dance Moms, has been using a wheelchair after undergoing surgery to remove a tumor from her spinal cord after reportedly being diagnosed with a form of cancer called Burkitt Lymphoma. Miller’s visit to the beach in Santa Monica, CA, saw her talking to a man and a woman dressed in workout gear before giving him a series of dance lessons. An onlooker said: “Abby was in great form and started giving the guy dance lessons. "She was teaching him to move and how and when to move his feet and it seemed he was struggling to get the hang of it. It was like she was back on the show Dance Moms and was shouting orders at him to ‘move to the side’ or ‘back right’. She appeared to be trying to teach him ballet just like she did to kids on the series. “It looked the guy had some gymnastic training and so afterwards they did a stunt where he ran at her and somersaulted directly above her.” Miller spent eight seasons on Dance Mom and previously taught Joelle Joanie “Jojo” Siwa. In 2017 she was sentenced to 366 days in prison for bankruptcy fraud. 31 Aug 2021 Pictured: Abbey Lee Miller . Photo credit: KAT/MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA782922_032.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Abby-Lee-Miller-Spotted-In-Wheelchair-MEGA.jpg?quality=100&w=440)
Two years after undergoing life saving surgery, Dance Moms alum Abby Lee Miller has revealed the tough reality behind her road to recovery. The reality star had emergency spinal surgery in April 2018, after doctors found a mass infection putting pressure on her spine and causing her severe pain. She opened up about her Burkitt lymphoma diagnosis, a rare form of cancer, when she sat down with Dr. Hooman Melamed for an interview with ET. “I remember saying to the anesthesiologist, ‘Just tell me I’m gonna see you when I wake up,’ and he said, ‘I can’t tell you that, ma’am,'” Abby began.
“That’s when I knew, and then I heard [Dr. Melamed] say something that I didn’t know, he said, ‘Get the theater ready, I’m going in,’ and I didn’t know that the operating room was called the theater and I thought I died. I’m dead already. You know, I can still hear them talking.” Dr. Melamed, who performed the surgery on the former reality star, said her blood pressure began plummeting however he was determined not to lose her on the operating table.
“I was like, ‘You know what, not on my watch. It’s not happening,'” he recalled. “I said, ‘We’re going in.’ I called my wife, I said, ‘Honey, I’m not coming home tonight.’ I said, ‘I’m gonna be there all night. I’m gonna be operating. I’m not coming home tonight. This is not gonna happen on my watch. I don’t care what it takes.” Despite her miraculous recovery, Abby revealed there were times when she wished she hadn’t made it through the surgery.
“This is weird but there are days that I wish that I would’ve died,” she said. “I know there’s people out there fighting every day for their lives, yes, but it’s been rough. It’s not easy to live in a wheelchair. It’s not easy, especially in California. It’s very difficult to be handicapped … that’s why I need to walk.”
When it comes to her professional life, the famed dance teacher revealed she hopes to return to the small screen one day — this time, behind the scenes. “I have an amazing young adult show with a paranormal twist to it that is in the works, and I also have a new reality show, two shows,” she told the outlet. “One is more prison-related about what happens when you get out of prison, and it’s just killer, it’s amazing, the show. And there’s nothing like it on TV.”