Celine Dion Reflects on ‘Trying to Overcome’ Stiff Person Syndrome: ‘One of the Hardest Experiences’
Céline Dion will not surrender in her battle with stiff person syndrome (SPS). In honor of International SPS Awareness Day, the “My Heart Will Go On” hitmaker reflected on her journey with the illness and shared her goal for the future.
Céline, 55, took to Instagram on March 15 to share a photo of herself and her three sons, René-Charles Angélil and twins Nelson and Eddy Angélil, whom she welcomed with late husband René Angélil. Nelson and Eddy, 13, stood on the second and third place platforms of a winner’s podium at K1 Speed, an indoor kart racing venue. Céline stood between her twins on the first place platform with her arms around their shoulders as René-Charles, 23, sat in front of her. Everyone smiled as Céline’s sons held up their racing trophies.
In the caption, the Queen of Power Ballads reminded fans that she was diagnosed with SPS, a rare neurological disorder that causes a patient to lose control of their muscles, in fall 2022.
“Trying to overcome this autoimmune disorder has been one of the hardest experiences of my life, but I remain determined to one day get back onto the stage and to live as normal of a life as possible,” Céline continued. “I am deeply grateful for the love and support from my kids, family, team and all of you!”
The singer ended her post by sending “encouragement and support” to others who are battling SPS. “I want you to know you can do it!” she concluded. “We can do it!”
Céline revealed her SPS diagnosis in December 2022, announcing that she had to postpone and cancel some of her tour dates at the time.
“I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through,” she explained via Instagram. “While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know that this is what has been causing all of the spasms that I’ve been having. Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life. Sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.”
Though Céline’s sister Claudette Dion revealed in August 2023 that she had been struggling to find medicine to treat her symptoms, the singer never lost hope. A source exclusively told In Touch at the time that she planned to “fight this with everything she’s got.”
Claudette later shared in December 2023 that Céline had “lost control of her muscles.” However, she still made a surprise appearance at the 2024 Grammys on February 6, presenting Taylor Swift with her Album of the Year Award and even having an impromptu jam session with fellow singer Sonyae backstage. The outing came weeks after Céline announced her upcoming documentary, I Am: Céline Dion, which will chronicle her SPS battle.
“It’s very brave of Céline to agree to do this documentary. She has avoided being seen in any significant way since her diagnosis, and she knows that people are so curious about her condition,” a source told Life & Style on February 7. “It’s been hard for her to make peace with the changes to her life, her body, her capabilities, but Céline’s hopeful that this project will shine a light on SPS and the quiet battles that so many people [like her] are going through.”
