Shakira claimed that her longtime former beau Gerard Pique cheated on her while her father was fighting for his life in the intensive care unit of the hospital.
In speaking to People en Español, the pop star praised her father, William Mebarak Chadid, for headed to Barcelona to support her immediately after her split from Gerard, with whom she shares sons Milan, 10, and Sasha, 7.
"He went to Barcelona to console me after I was consumed with sadness because of my separation," the pop star said of her 91-year-old dad. "While he was at Milan's first communion, he was gravely injured in an accident. Everything happened at once. My home was falling apart. I was finding out through the press that I had been betrayed while my dad was in the ICU."
With so much happening in her orbit, the three-time Grammy winner was wondering if she was "going to survive."
"The man I have loved the most in my life, my father, was leaving me when I needed him the most. I couldn't talk to him, or go to my best friend for the advice I needed so much," she said.
William's recovery has been "very hard and slow."
"He has overcome COVID once, two accidents, one pneumonia and five surgeries — all of this at 91 years of age, in less than six months. My dad is the biggest example of resilience, and my mother has been by his side day and night," she said. "They have both been a reflection of that dream that didn't come true for me. But I hope they are role models for my kids of love, of patience in relationships, of absolute devotion and zest for life."
Last summer, El Periodico reported that the Colombian singer dumped her partner of more than a decade after she caught him with another woman. The Spanish newspaper added that the soccer star then relocated from their family home to his bachelor pad in Barcelona. Shortly after, Shakira confirmed the acrimonious split.
The soccer star has been dating Clara Chia Marti since he and Shakira called it quits, and the "Hips Don't Lie" singer has moved to Miami. In late 2022, the exes agreed on a custody arrangement, which has the children living with her in Florida.