Celine Dion’s twins are her biggest support system as they celebrate 15th birthday

Celine, who was diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome in December 2022, began to experience the signs in 2008 while on tour. Over the years, she has endured debilitating symptoms such as muscle stiffening, painful spasms and difficulty walking, yet it was her twins that motivated her to get help, particularly since they had lost their father, René Angélil, to throat cancer in 2016.

“I barely could walk at one point, and I was missing very much living. My kids started to notice,” Celine told People. “I was like, ‘Okay, they already lost a parent. I don’t want them to be scared.’ I let them know, ‘You lost your dad, [but] mom has a condition and it’s different. I’m not going to die. It’s something that I’m going to learn to live with.”

Celine has also worked with her boys to help them understand what happens to her body during a “crisis” episode, in which the Canadian star seizes up and becomes incredibly stiff. “We started to talk to them about what’s going on,” she told the publication. “They saw a crisis – we explained it, we played it frame by frame.”

“When I make a sound, or when I don’t make a sound, and what can they do because they’re 13 years old. They can help me out even if I don’t communicate verbally because I can’t produce a sound,” Celine continued, adding that they run through crisis drills every two to three months just in case.

“We have panic buttons in the house, and they know how to put me on my side,” she explained. “The idea of telling them and showing them, it was not to frighten them. It is for them to know, ‘I’m your mom, and it’s my responsibility. You’re old enough to understand I might need your help.”

Eddy and Nelson make sure to check up on their mom each night so that they can support her if her symptoms are worse than usual. “They’re so amazing because I would say 15 minutes or so every night, they come and they say, ‘Mom,’ and I say, ‘Yes?'” she recounted.

“[They say], ‘It’s just because it’s been a little longer than you usually take when you clean up at night before bedtime. We just want to make sure you’re fine.’ This is our lives now: We care for each other, and they’re so helpful.”

The “My Heart Will Go On Singer” made sure to give a shout-out to her boys at the New York City premiere of her documentary, I Am: Celine Dion, in 2024, sweetly declaring, “I wouldn’t be here without the daily love and support from my wonderful children. Thank you, Réne-Charles. Thank you, Nelson. Thank you, Eddy.” She has brought the boys to several events in recent years as her support, including to Adele’s Vegas concert in 2024.