During one of the most harrowing scenes from her much-watched Amazon Prime documentary, Celine Dion is seen in the throes of a terrifying seizure.
Her body is rigid, wracked by painful spasms caused by Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare and chronic neurological disorder.
That beautiful voice, familiar to millions throughout the world, is heard wailing in despair.
What more perfect way to celebrate the opening of the Paris Olympics, then, than with a gold-medal winning performance by the 56-year-old singer who, two years on, has fought her way back from ill health with as much determination and grit as any world-class athlete.
Her triumphant return to the stage at Friday night’s opening ceremony in the French capital brings to an end wide-spread fears that her incurable autoimmune disease might spell the career end of one of the most famous singers on the planet.
But as anyone who watched the documentary ‘I Am: Celine Dion’ will know, even when her health was at its lowest, leaving her struggling to move and even to sing, the star refused to give up.
‘If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl. But I won’t stop,’ she said during one of her darkest moments.
Over the past few months, hellbent on making her come-back, Dion has been undergoing daily physical and vocal therapy, battling against an incredibly rare condition which was first diagnosed in 1956 and affects only one in a million people.
Celine Dion puts on an animated display as fans swarm outside her hotel in Paris
As recently as April, she told French Vogue that she didn’t know when she would return to the stage, but added: ‘There’s one thing that will never stop, and that’s the will. It’s the passion. It’s the dream. It’s the determination.’
Such words which will no doubt chime with the hundreds of elite athletes from around the globe who are poised to chase down medals in the fortnight ahead.
The Olympic motto – Citius, Altius, Fortius – Faster, Higher, Stronger – might even have been written for the Canadian star who has battled miscarriage, infertility, IVF and bereavement as well as ill health.
No wonder the French were so desperate to have her in Paris on Friday night, dressed in Dior, belting out the iconic Gallic song ‘La Vie En Rose’ in a voice millions of fans feared they would never hear again. Who better to embody the Olympic spirit and light up the greatest sporting event in the world?
Dion’s starring role at the opening ceremony was kept under wraps until the last minute. Even after she was spotted in Paris earlier this week, President Macron refused to reveal if she would be performing during an interview with the TV channel France 2.
‘Apparently she has arrived in Paris. It’s great!’ he teased. ‘I would be immensely happy if she could be at the this opening ceremony, like all our compatriots.’
In April, while discussing her health, Dion herself appeared to hint that a possible comeback lay ahead after four years out of the limelight, telling Vogue France: ‘The way I see it, I have two choices.
‘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 the mirror and sing to myself.
Celine Dion fans hail documentary as ‘raw’ and ‘honest’
‘I’ve chosen to work with all my body and soul, from head to toe, with a medical team. I want to be the best I can be. My goal is to see the Eiffel Tower again!’
In many ways the story of Dion’s life has always been one of dedication, hard work and, over the past couple of decades – when life threw one problem at her after another – of triumph over adversity.
Born in March 1968, the youngest of 14 children born into a French-speaking family in Quebec in Canada, the Dions were not well-off but her musical mother, Therese, recognised and supported her daughter’s musical talent.
She was just 12 when she wrote her first song, which her mother sent to impresario René Angélil. After hearing her sing, he signed her on the spot and then remortgaged his house to finance her first album.
That fairytale beginning was followed with gruelling years of hard work. Her first Canadian TV performance in 1981 was followed by first prize at the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo.
The same year, she appeared on the popular French TV show Champs-Élysées where the host, after hearing her sing, announced: ‘Remember her name: Celine Dion.’
By 1988, when she won the Eurovision song contest in Dublin, representing Switzerland with the French song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, she was well on her way to becoming a global star, known for her soaring power ballads.
In a bid to make the painful subjects of infertility and miscarriage less taboo, Dion has spoken openly about the difficulties she faced in becoming a mother.
‘It’s life, you know,’ she told Oprah Winfrey back in 2010 before her final successful pregnancy. ‘A lot of people are going through this but it’s not being told.’
Celine Dion says husband’s death pushed her to fight harder amid stiff person syndrome battle
But the couple’s happiness was short-lived. Just six years later, Dion lost her 73-year-old husband, the love of her life, to throat cancer. Two days after his death, one of her brothers also died.
While grappling with bereavement and comforting her children, Dion was already experiencing the early symptoms of Stiff Person Syndrome.
She felt the first signs in 2008 when during her ‘Taking Chances World Tour’ she had difficult controlling her voice and noticed her muscles becoming stiff.
‘It’s like somebody is strangling you. It’s like somebody is pushing your larynx/pharynx this way,’ she said, demonstrating with her hands.
Earlier this year she told French Vogue that was actively working against her condition, which is incurable.
‘I work on my toes, my knees, my calves, my fingers, my singing, my voice…I have to learn to live with it now and stop questioning myself.’
Celine and all her children and a friend (centre) René-Charles, 23, is far left and twins Nelson and Eddy, 13, far right and second from right. All pictured in Las Vegas in July
