ASHENEWS reports that Legendary Singer, Celine Dion has released new documentary showing her intimate struggles with stiff person syndrome (SPS) and how she has learnt to live with the sickness.
The documentary made by Director Irene Taylor, was premiered in New York City on 17 June 2024 and was given a limited theatrical release on 21 June 2024 by Amazon MGM Studios. It is currently being shown on Amazon Prime Video. The documentary is raw, personal and gutsy.
One of the scenes in the film captured Celine Dion in one of her crisis. She was having a full-on seizure and face down on a table with a massage-style headrest, while under the observation of her sports medicine therapist. For minutes, all Dion could do was whimper while she spasms, her hand bunched up tightly at her side. She then started wailing, this went on for minutes until the spasming subsided. After the spasming subsides, Dion talks about her embarrassment.
In an interview with Adrienne Arsenault of The National, Celine Dion opened up saying that she had been struggling with spasms for nearly two decades disclosing that she first had issues with her muscles spasming 17 years ago, then she noticed her voice was higher and that it cracked more than it usually did the day after a show.
She explained that whwn it first started, she didn’t get a diagnosis so she was trying to survive through it and trying to be brave by being the best if herself.
“At the beginning, it was light. It started in my voice. I started by feeling a spasm, I had this feeling of not feeling well. I went to see every ENT specialist around the world just to find a solution. It was not easy. There were times that it was hard to walk, I had a lot of pain and I was losing balance.
” When I was diagnosed, I was still struggling but after sometimes, I was tired of lying, I needed the world to know where I have been, what is happening to me. The news carried about my death made me decide to document my struggles.
She further explained that she also agreed to do the documentary to enable her save and help someone who may be going through the same disease.
During the interview, Dion assures her fans that she will sing adding that she cannot wait to sing to her fans whom she considers as her family.
“I will see you soon because I am working hard in rehabilitation. I cannot wait to go back on stage because this is where I have to be. My fans gave me the adrenaline. What I do is more than singing with them. If I cannot run, I will walk, if I cannot walk, I will crawl but I will be back”, she said.
Documentary Director, Irene Taylor who spent a year in Dion’s world to document her life said that she was excited to take up the job to but she did not fathom how sick Dion was.
“I did not know what to expect. It was hard to see because I could see how much she was afraid to have the world see how sick she was but she was brave enough to open up her life and take us through her journey.”
