Céline Dion’s documentary, I Am: Celine Dion, has at last been released, providing a rare and sincere glimpse into her daily challenges. In a particularly poignant scene, Dion reveals her ordeal of enduring a frightening seizure that lasted for several minutes.
The documentary captures a gripping moment as Céline Dion undergoes a medical assessment. The Grammy-winning artist has been contending with spasms associated with stiff person syndrome, a rare and advancing neurological condition.
Lying down on a massage table, 56-year-old Dion experiences spasms. Her doctor, Lobo, cautions that these spasms could “lead to a crisis.”
Soon after, the icon begins to experience a severe seizure. Her doctor swiftly calls for another medical team member to give her a medication used to treat nervous system disorders.
At that moment, Dion’s pained groans echoed as she trembled uncontrollably, lying face down. A sudden, wide-eyed expression revealed her inability to move.
Despite her condition, she stayed conscious and communicated her awareness by gently squeezing one of the medical expert’s hands.
After receiving two doses of nasal spray, Dion begins to recover from the seizure. The doctor notes that if she hadn’t responded, they would have had to rush her to the hospital.
As the My Heart Will Go On singer starts to regain her composure, she confides to everyone present that episodes like these leave her feeling “so embarrassed.”
Describing her harrowing experience, the singer expressed, “I don’t know how to express it, like, it’s just... you know, like, to not have control of yourself?” Her doctor, Lobo, attributed the likely trigger for the seizure to Dion’s recent studio session, during which she had been singing and experienced overstimulation of her brain.
Dion replied, “Well, what am I gonna do? If I can’t get stimulated by what I love, and then I’m gonna go onstage and, like, you’re gonna put the pulse oximeter on me, and you’re gonna turn me on my back?”
Céline disclosed her diagnosis of stiff person syndrome in December 2022. As a result, she had to cancel tour dates in Europe, postpone her scheduled Las Vegas residency for October 2021, and later cancel her North American tour.
We admire Céline Dion’s resilience and fortitude in confronting the significant challenges she has faced. Her life has been a journey marked by hardships since a young age, and here are seven key struggles that have molded her into the inspirational icon she is today.
You are loved and appreciated by all as your gift of music has played an appreciative part in our lives. Many prayers have been sent your way from when we first learned about your struggle. Stay strong, Celine, sing when you are up to it and quit when you need to. Just don't over tax yourself. Your fans will understand and in fact most already do.
