Celine Dion, a legendary Canadian singer who has been battling with stiff-person syndrome, is reportedly no longer has ‘control over her muscles,’ according to her older sister, Claudette.
Claudette made the revelation, saying that the singer still ‘dreams’ of returning to the stage one day.
Mail Online reports that a year after the ‘My Heart Will Go On’ hitmaker was forced to cancel her world tour in December 2022, her sibling who is 74, suggested that it may be a while before 55-year-old Celine returns to the stage following her battle with a neurological disorder known as stiff person syndrome.
Celine’s condition, which is progressive and incurable, causes the body to attack its own nerve cells and severely impacts mobility.
Celine’s older sister was quoted as saying, “She’s working hard, but she doesn’t have control over her muscles. What breaks my heart is that she’s always been disciplined.
“Our mother always told her, ‘You’re going to do it well, you’re going to do it properly.’
“It’s true that in both our dreams and hers, the goal is to return to the stage. In what capacity? I don’t know.”
It is said that people who suffer from stiff person syndrome (SPS) can turn sufferers into ‘human statues,’ leaving them struggling to walk or talk.
The condition, which is thought to affect just one in a million people, can also lead to spasms that generate enough force to fracture bone.
Usually, patients are diagnosed around ages 30-50, and they are mostly women.
The star first revealed her diagnosis in December 2022 via a teary Instagram post, and months later cancelled her world tour, which was scheduled to begin at the end of 2023, Mail Online reports.
In September, a video surfaced on YouTube entitled ‘Celine Dion’s Family Reveals How She Is Dying’, in which an unidentified narrator says that her incurable disease is ‘progressing very quickly’. The video has since been republished on TikTok, where it received more than 430,000 views.
The clip triggered rumors on social media that the Grammy award-winning artist was now wheelchair-bound and struggling to move.
Celine’s sister, however, reportedly denied this is the case, saying, “I know that morally, mentally, she is strong. She is not depressed at all … she really has the joy of living. We will get through this.”
As for the rumors, Claudette was quoted as saying, “Why do they say she is in a wheelchair? Why do they say she had cancer? Why are you inventing?
“Despite Celine Dion’s pain, she’s not given up on plans to return to the stage.”
Earlier this year, Claudette also reportedly told showbizz.net that Celine was recuperating in Denver and following her doctors’ care plan closely because she “wants to come back, that’s for sure.”
