"One of your parents has passed away" - Ailing Céline Dion struggles for her sons.
Celine Dion, a 56-year-old singer, is determined to stay strong for her sons while battling a rare autoimmune disease. She shared her story in the American magazine People.
Celine Dion wanted to protect her children from fear
Six years after her husband René Angélil's (1942-2016) passing, Dion was diagnosed with Stiff-Person Syndrome. Her physical symptoms, including muscle spasms and difficulty walking and breathing, had been getting worse since the 2000s. "I couldn't walk properly at times. I was missing out on life. My children started noticing. I thought, 'They've already lost one parent, I don't want them to be afraid'," stated the five-time Grammy Award winner.
For her sons René-Charles (23) and the twins Nelson and Eddy (13), Dion said she's fighting the disease: "I've told them, 'You've lost your father... I'm not going to die. I'm going to learn to live with it'," shared the Canadian singer with her sons.
She'd hidden her symptoms for 17 years
In a preview before the NBC interview, Celine Dion disclosed that she had been concealing her illness from the public for a long time. She was diagnosed in 2022, but she'd felt her body abandoning her for a long time. She'd struggled with her voice or frequently stumbled. Then her husband became ill, and she focused on her children's well-being and hid her condition: "My husband was also battling for his life. I needed to raise my children, I had to hide my illness. I had to be a hero."
More insights into her daily life with the incurable disease will be shown in her documentary "I Am: Celine Dion," available on Amazon Prime Video from June 25.
Read also:
- Celine Dion, who lost her husband René Angélil in 2016, shared with her sons that she's been diagnosed with Stiff-Person Syndrome six years later.
- Struggling with physical symptoms since the 2000s, Dion realized she wanted to protect her children from further fear and told them, "I'm not going to die. I'm going to learn to live with it."
- In an upcoming documentary, "I Am: Celine Dion," available on Amazon Prime Video, more insights into her daily life living with the incurable disease will be revealed.
- Despite battling the disease, Dion spoke about her husband's passing during an NBC interview, saying, "You have already lost a parent, I didn't want you to lose another."