Wife struck down by same rare disease as Celine Dion says fans may not realise the extent of her devastating prognosis
  • last year
Andrea Rawlins, 54, released videos of her former bike-mad husband Ian, 58, who's had Stiff Person Syndrome for roughly 18 years, writhing in pain from his daily spasms. The condition, for which there is no cure, is a rare neurological disorder where sufferers can both experience convulsions and become "like a statue” within their own bodies. And Ian now needs to take regular medication to help control his agonizing seizures, which can last for hours at a time. Andrea said after seeing Ian's heartbreaking struggle with the disease, fans of 'The Power of Love' singer also needed to recognise she won't "get better overnight". She said: “People at first won’t accept how much her symptoms will escalate. At the moment, people believe that she’s sort of going to start singing again. “Depending on the severity of the symptoms, I think she will get worse with time – unless she has a stem cell transplant – which she may have access to. “I’m not sure of how fast it will escalate with her, but as it does escalate, people will become more and more aware that she doesn’t suddenly get better overnight.”
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