Celine Dion Explains Living With Stiff Person Syndrome in Heartbreaking New Interview: ‘It’s Like Somebody’s Strangling You’ (Watch)
Music legend Celine Dion is opening up about her ongoing battle with stiff person syndrome in a vulnerable interview with NBC News.
Conducted by Hoda Kotb, the one-on-one interview is slated to air in full on Tuesday, June 11 at 10/9c. But Today show viewers got a sneak peek of the emotional sit-down during Friday morning’s broadcast.
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“Celine had developed a rare neurological disorder that affects her vocal cords,” Kotb explained of the diagnosis Dion first went public with in 2022. “It even affects her ability to walk, to sing, to talk.” She then cued up a preview of her conversation with Dion, who holds nothing back when describing her new normal.
“It’s like somebody’s strangling you,” Dion says in the clip. “It’s like someone’s pushing your larynx. It gets into a spasm. But it can also be abdominal, it can be in the spine, it can be in the ribs. But if I cook, and I love to cook, my fingers and my hands will get into position … it’s cramping, but it’s in a position where you cannot unlock them. I had broken ribs at one point, because when [the spasms are] very severe it can [break your ribs].”
To hear Dion, 56, explain the condition in her own words is simply heartbreaking.
“She’s been trying to get to the bottom of this,” Kotb told her co-anchors of Dion’s fight. “She thought she was crazy. She went to so many doctors. Finally, they found the diagnosis. There’s actually something in her blood stream, so now she’s fighting through it. She’s trying to figure out if she can come back [to the stage]. It was such a compelling interview. She’s an incredible person.”
The interview comes ahead of Dion’s Prime Video documentary I Am: Celine Dion, which begins streaming globally on Tuesday, June 25.
I Am: Celine Dion will stream globally on Prime Video beginning Tuesday, June 25. Watch the trailer in full above, then drop a comment with your thoughts.
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