Dimitris Starovas, a beloved Greek artist known for his music and humour, recently posted a video after suffering a stroke.
In the video, he struggles to form sentences and find or articulate words. Despite these challenges, he felt compelled to share his experience, emphasizing that “we should not hide, everything is part of life.”
A few years ago, there was a common perception that illnesses were exclusive to “ordinary mortals.” Royalty, celebrities, and well-known personalities seemed to have access to some secret elixir that protected them.
While death was inevitable, they appeared to avoid hardships, always looking unblemished, smiling, and calm even when facing health issues. Rarely would serious health problems be publicly acknowledged.
We often wondered why we couldn’t face our difficulties with the same courage, without breaking down, without showing signs of pain, and without tarnishing our image. How did they manage it?
The truth is, no one manages it flawlessly. Everyone buckles under the weight of their struggles. Illness was often viewed as a weakness, but this perception is changing.
One of the greatest stars of our time, Céline Dion, is demonstrating this in the most visible and perhaps harsh way. The once dazzling star, dynamic on stage, now sheds the glittery camouflage to reveal the daily reality of living with a severe health condition. In her case, it’s the rare neurological disorder known as Stiff Person Syndrome.
She exposes not only her emotions, fears, and hopes but also the excruciating episodes where all her muscles become immobilized, causing severe pain. She does this without any embellishment, showing how vulnerable she is. And with her, we see our own vulnerability. Because everything is part of life.
It’s not pleasant to witness someone suffering, someone who was so happy, radiant, and talented just yesterday, now struggling to speak or stay alive. However, it serves as a poignant reminder of human fragility, the strength to fight, the power of science, and our shared destiny.
Whether kings, stars, or ordinary people, we are all vulnerable.