“Not far from death”: Catherine Lara’s illness which could have ended her life

A Sunday in the countryside was not broadcast on France 2 Sunday November 26, 2023 because theEurovision Junior was in full swing. But a week later, viewers were reassured to rediscover Frédéric Lopez and his guests on Sunday December 3, 2023. The presenter received in his house, far from the hustle and bustle of the main boulevards, the host Cyril Féraud, the actor Philippe Lellouche and the artist Catherine Lara. If the 78-year-old singer very rarely appears on television, she insisted on appearing in the show broadcast on France 2. It seems that she is aware that the filming of the show does not happen like those of the programs that we watch on our small screen. For the occasion, the interpreter of Magical night spoke of an event that took place when she was 3 years old and which, 75 years later, is still difficult to recount. “I had infantile paralysis”she revealed to her interlocutorswhich she described as “a bit of a weird illness”.

Catherine Lara: “It was over”

Immersed in her memory, the artist recounted what she remembered. “It was very, very painful. I still have memories of lumbar punctures, of lots of difficult things”, she explained. Frédéric Lopez, in shock, asked him how this strange illness had manifested itself. “Between 3 and 4 years old, I don’t walk, you can’t catch me because it makes me suffer. I’m not far from death”, assured Catherine Lara. Disappointed, the little girl who had just discovered her father’s violin and his passion for music just had to wait. Either she recovered or she died in the most intense suffering. As if by magic, his illness disappeared. The singer’s mother told her about her memory of the moment of her recovery. “One night, my parents were woken up by the sound of bells. There were absolutely no bells around our house, but they both hear them. With a kind of sound that radiated around them“, quoted the singer. An anecdote which reflects the despair of Catherine Lara’s parents when she was facing a terrible illness. “The next morning, I was cured, it was over”rejoiced the interpreter of Marayeva, as if she had just heard the news. According to her, it was this terrible event which was the starting point of her tenacious character, particularly in the musical world.