Shania Twain is extending her heartfelt well wishes to Céline Dion following her challenging health diagnosis.
Dion has deliberately retreated from the limelight since revealing her diagnosis of an incurable neurological disorder, something she made public toward the end of last year.
“I hope to be able to connect with her at some point,” Twain told Billboard, referring to the iconic ‘Beauty and the Beast‘ vocalist.
Drawing from her personal experiences, herself having suffered immensely with Lyme Disease – Twain said: “I think it’s gotta be so difficult, and I know — only speaking from my experience — how horrifying it is to think that something is preventing you from singing, or interfering with that joy in your life.
“So I just pray that she is able to overcome it and she will be up there [on stage] singing for us all again,” she added. “I’m such a fan of Céline’s voice. She’s a one-of-a-kind, extraordinary vocalist and entertainer.”
Twain has been open about her own health struggles, recounting how vocal chord surgery rendered her voiceless for three weeks. She attributed the nerve damage she experienced to the effects of Lyme Disease.
“It was quite depressing. Devastating to imagine that I would never sing again, even speaking, really, you know has always been difficult,” she revealed during an interview with Lorraine Kelly on her show, reflecting on her battle with the disease.
Additionally, Twain, who also deals with asthma, disclosed her battle with a severe bout of COVID-19 during a conversation with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. She recounted the alarming experience, sharing, “I had to be air-vaced by a special team…Nobody else would fly me to the hospital…You can’t just pick up a COVID patient and fly them to a hospital.”
In December 2022, Dion turned to Instagram to disclose her own health struggles as she announced to her fans that upcoming tour dates would be rescheduled.
“As you know, I’ve always been an open book. And I wasn’t ready to say anything before — but I’m ready now. I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time. And it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and talk about everything that I’ve been going through.”
Dion went on to reveal her diagnosis of stiff person syndrome (SPS), a condition she described as affecting “something like one in a million people.”
Stiff person syndrome is characterized by the Cleveland Clinic as “a rare autoimmune movement disorder that affects the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). People with this condition first experience a stiffening of the muscles of their trunk followed, over time, by the development of stiffness and rigidity in the legs and other muscles in the body.”
Dion has remained largely out of the public eye since announcing her health battle last winter.
Both women are legends in their own right, and we wish them all the health and happiness for the future!
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