Fans are getting an honest peek at Celine Dion’s life with stiff person syndrome.
The legendary singer experiences a terrifying medical emergency during physical therapy, and the entire event is captured on tape in a recently published documentary.
The singer stated in her new documentary, I Am Celine Dion, that she had been coping with the symptoms of the uncommon, degenerative neurological condition for 17 years, despite first disclosing her diagnosis of stiff person syndrome in 2022.
“I must have my instrument.” My instrument was also not functioning. The 56-year-old Dion stated, “We started to elevate the medicine so we could hit certain notes during her 2018 and 2019 tours.”
Dion finished her 2018 tour, but the “common cold” prompted her to reschedule a few dates of her 2019 tour before the pandemic closed it off.
When her tour started up again in 2022, she had to keep postponing and canceling shows. She didn’t formally cancel the remaining appearances until she revealed her condition.
In the document, Dion declares, “I can no longer lie.” “From an ear infection to a sinus infection to anything else. On occasion, I would direct my microphone towards the crowd and ask them to sing along. There were times when I pretended that the microphone was to blame for my cheating.
Dion also discusses a very private moment in the documentary where she has a full-body spasm.
Dion’s foot starts to cramp while she is doing some physical therapy exercises while resting on a massage table. Her whole body locks up and seizes in a matter of minutes, making it impossible for her to speak with anyone in the room.
While the video is still rolling, another member of Dion’s medical team enters the room and gives her a benzodiazepine nasal spray. Dion remains still but is wailing in agony. Watching the video is excruciating.
Dion can sit up and talk once the spasms, which usually last between thirty and sixty minutes, have passed.
“I feel so embarrassed every time something like this happens,” she says. “To not have control over yourself, you know, I don’t know how to express it.”
Her physical therapist surmises that she may have been “overstimulated” from an earlier singing session, which is what caused the attack.
“Am I going to go on stage and you’re going to put the pulse oximeter on me and turn me on my back if I can’t get stimulated by what I love?” she asks herself.
Dion dreams of being able to take the stage once more in the near future. The terrifying video of her seizure is available for viewing here.
