Céline Dion has enjoyed a stellar career and remains one of the most famous and beloved female vocalists of all time. However, she has been facing significant health challenges recently, and the severity of her condition became widely known only after she experienced a seizure while filming a documentary.
Dion is afflicted with a rare neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome, which is the focus of her latest documentary, I Am Céline Dion, released in late June on Prime Video.
For the documentary, Dion granted filmmaker Irene Taylor unrestricted access to her life, including a particularly poignant moment near the film’s end. In this scene, Dion undergoes a severe, full-body spasm due to her illness, a moment that is especially hard to watch.
Stiff person syndrome is an autoimmune disorder characterized by muscle stiffness and painful spasms. Dion has been dealing with this condition for the past 17 years, which has impacted her singing abilities.
Taylor was reportedly hesitant to film the moment Dion suffered a seizure, but after showing the footage to Dion, the singer insisted it be included in the film.
During a physical therapy session meant to help manage her condition and possibly regain some of her health, Dion’s foot unexpectedly cramps. Within minutes, her entire body stiffens, rendering her immobile and unable to communicate or even change her facial expression.
“I could just see this stiffness that was not like the flowing, lithe dancer that I had been filming for several months doing her physical therapy. Within a couple of minutes, she was moaning in pain,” Taylor told The New York Times.
As Dion’s limbs and lips twitch and she remains motionless and curled up, Taylor becomes concerned about Dion’s ability to breathe. Her physical therapist called for her head of security, and her bodyguard quickly came into the room, ready to take care of her.
Once the spasms, which typically last between 30 minutes to an hour, subside, Dion can sit and speak again.
“Every time something like this happens, it makes me feel so embarrassed,” she says. “I don’t know how to express it, you know, to not have control over yourself.”
Her physical therapist suggested that the seizure might have been triggered by “over-stimulation” from an earlier singing session. Dion wonders, “If I can’t get stimulated by what I love, then I’m going to go on stage, and you’re going to put the pulse oximeter on me and turn me on my back?”
You can watch the heartbreaking footage here.
We sincerely hope that Dion regains control of her health and can return to doing what she loves most: performing for her fans.
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