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I was extremely sick, had to learn how to walk again: Elton John after he was diagnosed with cancer

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Nov 19, 2019, 03:10 PM IST
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British pop singer Elton John. Photograph:(Reuters)

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In another news, Elton's memoir has also been making waves as he called Michael Jackson "mentally ill" in it.

Elton John has been in the news ever since he released his memoir. 

Now, the veteran singer has opened up about his health after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He revealed that he had a build up of fluid under his colon which left him in terrible pain and that he had to wear a nappy on stage as he performed in Las Vegas in the year 2017.

It was after this show he was alerted that he was suffering from an infection. He was then placed in intensive care in hospital. 

The 72-year-old singer revealed that he was “24 hours from snuffing it” and had to relearn how to walk as part of his recovery. He also joked that he was “like the Bionic Woman” as he has had his tonsils, colon and appendix removed. 

Elton said, “I went to South America and played in Santiago and I came home, and I got to London and I was very ill. And I was rushed into hospital on intensive care. I picked up an awful bug from somewhere. And I was about 24 hours from snuffing it. We didn’t tell people that was going on at the time, so I had an annus horribilis as they say for half the year.”

He continued, “I literally had to learn how to walk again. I was extremely sick. All I could think about when I was lying in my hospital bed was “please don’t let me die, I want to see my children”, and luckily I survived it. ‘Now I’m fine but there’s very few bits of me left. There’s no hair, there’s a pacemaker, there’s no tonsils, there’s no prostate, there’s no appendix, I’ve had kidney stones. I like the Bionic Woman.”

Elton has also revealed about his career and battle with alcoholism and addiction to drugs in the interview. He was quoted saying, “I used to drink a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black every day. I used to smoke joints and I was bulimic. I would go to sleep for three days, I hadn’t eaten, then I would go out and gorge myself and then throw it all up. It was a very lonely existence and I just thought, “am I gonna die or am I gonna live? What do you wanna do?”‘

In another news, Elton's memoir has also been making waves as he called Michael Jackson "mentally ill" in it. He also detailed how he wanted to commit suicide decades ago in the book.