Inside Celine Dion’s gruelling battle to make surprise Olympic return from agonising therapy to secret vow
TEARS flowed under the Eiffel Tower as superstar Celine Dion launched her surprise comeback at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics last night.
The 56-year-old gave a performance brimming with emotion, after years of battling a terrifying health condition that at one point threatened to silence the magical voice, beloved by millions, for good.
In December 2022, the French-Canadian singer who has sold more then 30 million records worldwide, was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition known as stiff person syndrome.
Early signs of the disorder which affects 1 in a million people worldwide, were first spotted by the star some years before, back in 2008, when she was on a world tour and was struggling to control her voice.
She said: “It’s like someone is strangling you. It’s like someone is pushing your larynx/pharynx this way and that.”
Although her condition is incurable, Celine told French Vogue earlier this year that she has been working with specialists to improve her movement.
‘I work on my toes, my knees, my calves, my fingers, my singing, my voice…I have to learn to live with it now and stop questioning myself.’
She has also been having vocal therapy to help rebuild her voice that has been severely affected by the condition.
Above all, she said, she was fighting for her three sons, Renee Charles aged 23 and and twin boys, Eddy, and Nelson 13, because ‘they already lost a parent’.
‘I let them know, “You lost your dad but mom has a condition and it’s different. I’m not going to die. It’s something that I’m going to learn to live with.’
The singer’s husband and father of her three boys, Renne Angelil who was 26 years her senior, passed away in 2016 after a battle with throat cancer.
Last month she opened up about her condition in a documentary This is Me, where she laid bare the reality of her daily struggle with a chronic health condition.
In one scene she is seen experiencing painful spasms, crying out in agony, but the stand out feature of the documentary is her determination to continue.
In one of her darkest moments, captured on camera she says: If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl. But I won’t stop,’
How fitting then that she should close the ceremony with a gold medal-winning performance, having fought her way back from the brink with all the grit of a world-class athlete.
Dressed in a shimmering Dior gown, the Queen of the power ballad, brought the 4 hour ceremony to an emotional climax, with her stirring rendition of French Chanteuse, Edith Piaf’s L’Hymme a L’Amour.
If the high-voltage spectacle is anything to go by, the Power of Love singer who started her career aged in Quebec aged 12, still has many more years of performance ahead.
What is Stiff Person Syndrome?
Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is a rare, progressive neurological disorder. Symptoms may include:
- Stiff muscles in the trunk (torso), arms, and legs
- Greater sensitivity to noise, touch, and emotional distress, which can set off muscle spasms
Over time people with SPS may develop hunched over postures. Some people may be too disabled to walk or move. Many fall frequently because they do not have the normal reflexes to catch themselves. This can lead to serious injuries. People with SPS may be afraid to leave the house because street noises, such as the sound of a car horn, can trigger spasms and falls.
SPS affects twice as many females as males. It is frequently associated with other autoimmune diseases such as type-I diabetes, thyroiditis, vitiligo, and pernicious anemia. Scientists don’t yet understand what causes SPS, but research indicates that it is the result of an autoimmune response gone awry in the brain and spinal cord.
