‘CROSSING OUR FINGERS’

Celine Dion Is Struggling to Deal With Stiff Person Syndrome, Sister Says

“There’s little we can do to support her, to alleviate her pain,” Claudette said.

When legendary singer Celine Dion canceled a European tour in May due to being hamstrung by a rare illness, stiff person syndrome, that causes painful and debilitating muscular rigidity, she did so expressing optimism that she could soon return to performing. Sadly, this seems not to be the case. “[We’re] crossing our fingers that researchers will find a remedy for this awful illness,” Dion’s sister, Claudette Dion, told Hello! Canada in a new interview. Claudette said that Celine is “doing everything to recover,” but “it’s an illness we know so little about. There are spasms – they’re impossible to control. You know [how] people often jump up in the night because of a cramp in the leg or the calf? It’s a bit like that, but in all muscles. There’s little we can do to support her, to alleviate her pain.”