Shakira learned she had been "betrayed" by Gerard Pique while by her father's hospital bedside.
The 46-year-old singer praised her dad William Mebarak Chadid as her "best friend" and recalled how he had come to "console" her following the end of her relationship with the soccer star - the father of her sons Milan, nine, and seven-year-old Sasha - last summer, but he ended up being "gravely injured" in an accident and she had to cope with his medical emergency at the same time her personal life was unravelling.
Speaking to People en Español magazine, she said of her dad: "He went to Barcelona to console me after I was consumed with sadness because of my separation.
"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."
The 'Hips Don't Lie' hitmaker admitted she thought she "wasn't going to survive" the difficult time, particularly because she couldn't confide in her dad.
She said: "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."
Shakira's father has undergone a "very hard and slow" recovery, and the Colombian superstar praised him as a "wonderful man and an endearing character who surprises us all with his strength."
She added: "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.
"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."
After splitting from Pique, Shakira released a song called 'BZRP Music Session#53' with producer Bizarrap which apparently took aim at her former partner and his new girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti.
She sang: "I wish you luck with my supposed replacement / I don't even know what happened to you / I'm worth two of 22."