In her documentary “I am: Celine Dion,” the singer reveals herself like never before. One scene particularly moved viewers.
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In her documentary “I Am: Celine Dion,” which has been streaming on Amazon Prime Video since June 25, Celine Dion has chosen to reveal herself completely. The film explores the ups and downs of her time away from the spotlight and also highlights her battle with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disease that affects the central nervous system.
While the entire documentary is poignant, one sequence in particular left viewers particularly upset. In it, we see Celine Dion in the throes of a crisis of her illness. She is seen completely paralyzed, in the throes of spasms and severe pain. Her medical team is at her side to relieve her with a nasal spray and Valium, but she can neither move nor speak.
This crisis comes after a recording session where Celine Dion sang “Love Again”. Happy to have been able to use her voice, she pushed too hard, which triggered the seizure. His doctor explains to him that his brain has been overstimulated.
After her ten-minute crisis, still shaken and moved, Celine Dion confided in front of the camera: “Every time it happens to me, I feel terribly embarrassed. It’s unpleasant not to be able to control your body.”
Excess of “very dangerous drugs”
A few days before the broadcast of the documentary, Céline Dion spoke during an interview with TF1 about her excesses of “very dangerous medications”.
When the pain became too much, for a reason she was unaware of until the end of 2022, the Quebecer told the French television channel, “I canceled a lot of shows, I found myself lying, taking medication… Maybe I’ll try an anti-inflammatory, an antispasmodic or something.”
“I started with small things, until I got… with very dangerous drugs, to continue,” she explained during this interview recorded in May in Las Vegas (United States).
When journalist Anne-Claire Coudray asked her if she had taken “Valium” (diazepam, a benzodiazepine), Celine Dion replied: “Yes, among others.”
“Without having a diagnosis. So, at first, it helped a little. But very quickly, the doses had to go up,” she continued. “And when you get to a dangerous level of medication and it’s not working anymore, you have two choices: you continue or you stop breathing and it’s over.”
“Don’t experience pain alone. (…) Agree to talk about it but also to consult. Don’t suffer alone,” urged the singer.
Celine Dion: “my passion as an artist will never disappear”
Despite her health problems, the singer was in New York on Monday for the premiere of the documentary “I Am: Celine Dion” which tells the story of her fight against a rare neurological disease.
19.06.2024
