Contestant Melissa Gilbert suffers head injury on Dancing With the Stars

Actress-turned-Dancing with the Stars-dancer Melissa Gilbert fell and hit her head on the dance floor during a competitive routine on last night’s DWTS; rushed to hospital shortly thereafter after suffering from dizziness and nausea.

Melissa Gilbert was nothing less than a trooper when she hit her head on the dance floor while she and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy performed the paso doble. She completed the routine and acted completely composed as the pair awaited their final scores.

A video of the routine shows Gilbert hitting her head against the dance floor towards the end of the dance routine.

"(Melissa) had some concussion-like symptoms after she got her scores," Maksim's brother, Val Chmerkovskiy, said to CNN after the show. "She was a little nauseous and dizzy, so she decided to go to the hospital."

It was a jinxed dance: Maksim, a professional dancer, also fell during the routine. Judge Len Goodman blamed the mishaps on a slippery floor.

While still pretending nothing was amiss, Maksim and Melissa waited out the time in order to receive their score, which was a 22 out of 30. But as soon as she was off-camera, Melissa told Maksim she wasn’t feeling well and that she needed to go to the hospital. Fellow contestant Gavin DeGraw carried Gilbert down a flight of stairs from the skybox as Gilbert left to seek medical attention.

After the incident, Gilbert thanked both Maksim and DeGraw for their help. “@MaksimC you are my champion. I adore you,” she tweeted, and continued @GavinDeGraw: “bless your heart for carrying me down those stairs!”

Gilbert also took the time to reassure her fans that everything was OK. “I'm alright. Mild concussion and whiplash. Very soon I will be safely home resting and being taken care of,” she posted on her Twitter account.

Chmerkovskiy was supportive of Gilbert and showered her with compliments: “So, @MelissaEGilbert . You're an ABSOLUTE ROCK STAR! You inspire me! Have so much more to say, but...... LOVE YOU!” he tweeted back. Clearly the two have a good working relationship.

The “Little House on the Prairie” star, now 47, absolutely did the right thing in seeking immediate help for her injury. Seemingly minor head bangs can turn deadly if brain bleeds develop, leading to coma and death.

In 2009, actress Natasha Richardson hit her head on a rock while taking a beginner’s skiing lesson and subsequently developed a brain hematoma. Because the brain is encased in a solid bone case, bleeding in the brain increases intracranial pressure and can lead to irreversible brain damage, coma and death.

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Image Source Wikimedia Commons

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