An impressive sequence from the documentary “I Am: Céline Dion” reveals the star writhing in pain, in the midst of a crisis due to stiff man syndrome, a rare illness that has disrupted her daily life for several years.
The fight is bitter. Celine Dion has been fighting for “17 years” against stiff man syndrome, a rare neurological disease which causes her to suffer from violent spasms. Filmed by Irène Taylor for the needs of “I am: Céline Dion”, unveiled this June 25 on Prime, a documentary in which the 56-year-old star recounts her daily struggle, the singer hides nothing of the suffering that keeps her away from the stage and studios.
In a “chilling and poignant” sequence viewed by Le Parisien, the Quebec star is in fact the victim of a seizure while she is lying on her stomach on a medical table where she is installed at the base “for a banal relaxation session” with his sports doctor, a session which suddenly “transforms into an urgent intervention. First his feet stiffen, then his whole body. The practitioner gently moves her to the side, takes her pulse, very strong. She has a fixed, empty look, her mouth open. Her lip moves on its own, the pain makes her moan for a long time, then cry,” our colleagues describe.
“A shocking moment”
“His managers are watching from afar, worried. ‘If she has any more spasms, we’ll call the emergency services,’ they are told. ‘Squeeze my hand Céline. We’re going to slow down your breathing,’” the doctor reassures her, who administers a nasal spray intended to lower her heart rate. “Welcome back among us,” he says to the singer when the crisis begins to subside.
This attack of spasms “sends shivers down your spine,” as also explained by Le Journal de Montréal, which was also able to see it Monday evening during a preview. “The highlight (of the documentary, editor’s note), even shocking, occurs when she has a spasm in front of the cameras. It only takes a few moments for Céline to writhe in pain before our eyes when everything was fine just before. It starts with a spasm in one foot and then it flares up. Her arms, her legs, her fingers, her whole body tenses (…) It is certainly an overwhelming moment, because we feel both voyeuristic and powerless in front of Céline who is suffering and becoming nonverbal. Especially since the camera comes very close to his face.
The emotion was so great during the screening that one woman felt unwell, the publication also reports, while another “had to be escorted to the exit”. In any case, the film shows how the star works hard to return to the stage. Will the big comeback be for the Paris Olympics as has been rumored for several weeks? There or elsewhere, she made a promise to sooner or later find her fans who miss her very much.
