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Elissa Reveals She Has Beaten Breast Cancer in Moving New Video

It was uploaded just hours ago, but has already garnered more than 100,000 views and thousands of comments – and with very good reason. Elissa unveiled the video for her latest single, Ila Kol Elli Bihebbouni, on August 7, in which she revealed her battle with breast cancer. At the start of the clip, the Lebanese superstar is seen undergoing a MRI scan on December 26, 2017, as voice recordings reveal her fight with the disease. “You know that moment when you wonder, will I ever see the people I love again? Those who love me back?” the singer poignantly questioned. “Is it that moment when it’s all over? You won’t exist tomorrow?”

The 46-year-old songbird went on to chart how she had tried to keep up her fast-paced work while she fought cancer, going from radiotherapy to the studio, and back to the hospital again. “You know what the doctor said when I told him, ‘doctor, I am dying from pain’?” the star, born Elissar Zakaria Khoury, revealed. “He looked at me and said, ‘have you lost your mind? Until now you haven’t realized that what you had was a deadly illness. You live your life as if you had a flu that you got over with in two days, and you didn’t even rest.”

At one point, the video shows a real-life clip of the singer being carried off-stage, filmed during a show in Dubai on February 3, 2018. The star passed out during her performance at Global Village, The National reported at the time, though no reason was given for her ill health. “Thank you for all my fellow artists and friends who tweeted for me. Your compassion helped me recover and I felt blessed to read your comments,” Elissa tweeted after the show. “I am feeling better. Nothing serious don’t worry!”

“Sometimes it’s not me who I feel sorry for, Angy,” she says in her new video, referring to the clip’s director, Angy Jammal. “I feel sorry for the people I truly love.” Luckily, Elissa’s story has a happy ending, as she confirms during the heart-wrenching video. Jumping excitedly into her doctor’s arm, the star, who is also a judge on The Voice Ahla Sawt, says she has “beaten” the illness. “I’ve recovered… and I won,” says the best-selling artist, before urging her fans to take care of their health. “Early detection of breast cancer can save your life. Don’t ignore it, face it,” she says. “Do it not only for yourself but your loved ones.”

Dedicating her video to “all the people we love”, Elissa told her fans she loved them “so, so much” – and they have responded in kind after her secret health battle was revealed. Hundreds of commenters have taken to social media to praise the star for her resolve and bravery, and to thank her for sharing her story. The video’s director also revealed more about the moving work, writing on Twitter that Elissa approached her, and the recordings were taken from voice notes the singer had sent Jammal. “We weren’t shooting or working, we were going through these moments again with her, living these moments… what you see there are her ‘real tears’,” the director wrote. “I admire and respect your strength and courage and heart Elissa.”

Now Read: The Most Inspirational Quotes from the Late Sheikh Zayed

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