Sir Elton John ‘distressed’ as health condition affects life with young sons
Sir Elton John has shared an update on his sight loss and the impact it’s having on his personal life.
The music legend has now revealed he can’t read, watch TV, or see his boys play sports.
Sir Elton, 78, is a proud dad to sons Zachary, 14, and Elijah, 12, whom he shares with husband David Furnish, 62.
Last July, he contracted a severe eye infection that left him blind in his right eye, with ‘limited vision’ in his left.
Speaking to a reporter from The Times newspaper, Sir Elton has now said: ‘I can see you, but I can’t see TV; I can’t read. I can’t see my boys playing rugby and soccer.
‘And it has been a very stressful time because I’m used to soaking it all up.’
On the toll the vision impairment has taken, he added: ‘It’s distressing. You get emotional, but you have to get used to it because I’m lucky to have the life I have.
‘I still have my wonderful family, and I can still see something out of here [left eye], so you say to yourself, “Just get on with it”.’
Speaking previously about his battle with blindness, the Your Song hitmaker described himself to The Guardian newspaper as ‘an optimist, permanently’.
‘There have been days I’ve been miserable, but then I think about how lucky I am,’ he said of his bad eyesight.
Sir Elton admitted he has a ‘new respect’ for sight-impaired people, but remains hopeful that his will ‘improve’.
‘I’ve beaten addiction, health issues, and can pick myself up, dust myself off.’
Meanwhile, the star, whose addiction struggles began in the 70s, recently confessed that if he could, he would tell his younger self to ‘never take drugs’.
During an interview on Smooth Radio with presenter Kate Garraway, he said: ‘Enjoy what you do, which I’d done. Never take drugs.
‘I mean, I took drugs. It took me down, and then when I recovered, I had to go through that journey to become the person I am.
‘But I wouldn’t have wanted to go through all that, but it did land me up where I am now.’
Repeating the mindset he has maintained over the years, he acknowledged he is ‘really lucky to be able to have music in [his] life’.
‘Music has been in my entire life. It’s been with me when I’ve been up, been down, depressed, but I still went out there and made music.
‘I recorded, I toured, and it saved me. It nearly destroyed me, but it saved me.’
Sir Elton, who has sold more than 300million records worldwide, kickstarted his music career at the tender age of 22.
The Grammy winner has been sober for three decades now, having become reliant on alcohol and addictive substances in the past.
He turned to his addiction when grappling with the pressures of fame, which also led to a six-year struggle with bulimia.
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