Céline Dion isn’t letting her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis stop her from living with positivity, saying, “Life doesn’t give you any answers. You just have to live it!”
While the “My Heart Will Go On” singer has been on a difficult journey since sharing her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis in 2022, she is set on maintaining the positive attitude she has become famous for.
“Life doesn’t give you any answers. You just have to live it!” she said in an interview with Vogue France published April 22. “I have this illness for some unknown reason.”
“The way I see it, I have two choices,” she continued. “Either I train like an athlete and work super hard, or I switch off and it’s over, I stay at home, listen to my songs, stand in front of my mirror and sing to myself.”
And as the 56-year-old explained, she’s “chosen to work with all my body and soul, from head to toe,” to ensure that she’s the best she can be. Adding that her current goal is “to see the Eiffel Tower again!”
“I haven’t beat the disease, as it’s still within me and always will be,” she said. “I hope that we’ll find a miracle, a way to cure it with scientific research, but for now I have to learn to live with it.”
To that end, Céline Dion who is mom to René Charles, 23, and 13-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy, with her late husband René Angélil—shared that each week she goes through five days of athletic, physical and vocal therapy to help maintain every part of her body from her toes to her singing voice.
And she knows her path to wellness wouldn’t be possible without the support she feels from her family, friends, fans and her care team.
“People who suffer from SPS may not be lucky enough or have the means to have good doctors and good treatments,” she said. “I have those means, and this is a gift. What’s more, I have this strength within me. I know that nothing is going to stop me.”
It’s a sentiment the Grammy winner has echoed in the past, writing on Instagram for International Stiff-Person Syndrome Awareness Day March 15, “I want to send my encouragement and support to all those around the world that have been affected by SPS. I want you to know you can do it! We can do it!”
And despite her diagnosis—which saw the “All by Myself” singer cancel her world tour in 2022—Céline is keeping her spirits high, even stopping by the Grammy awards in February, where she treated fans to an impromptu performance backstage alongside singer Sonyae Elise.