Sir Elton John has opened up about his "distressing" battle with blindness, revealing that it is taking its toll on his family life. The 78-year-old Rocket Man singer, who contracted a severe eye infection that left him blind in one eye last summer, said he can no longer watch his sons Zachary, 14, and Elijah, 11, playing sports. Confessing it had been an "emotional" year, the award-winning musician said he was trying to stay positive thanks to the support of his husband, David Furnish. He told The Times: "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. "It's distressing. You get emotional, but you have to get used to it because I'm lucky to have the life I have." Elton added that he was lucky to be able to see out of his left eye. "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," he said. Losing his eyesight Last September, Elton announced he had been left with "limited eyesight" following a "severe eye infection" contracted while on holiday in France. "Over the summer, I've been dealing with a severe eye infection that has unfortunately left me with only limited vision in one eye. I am healing, but it's an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye," he wrote in an Instagram post. "I am so grateful for the excellent team of doctors and nurses and my family, who have taken such good care of me over the last several weeks. I have been quietly spending the summer recuperating at home, and am feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery so far." In November, Elton confessed during an appearance on Good Morning America that it had been "a while" since he'd been able to do anything, revealing his lack of vision was impacting his creativity. Elton's health woes Aside from losing his eyesight in one eye, Elton has been affected by a number of health problems in recent years. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017 and underwent surgery to remove his prostate. While the surgery was successful, Elton contracted a major infection 10 days after the operation, which left him "24 hours from death". The star was rushed to King Edward VII's Hospital in London for treatment. "In the hospital, alone at the dead of night, I'd prayed: please don't let me die, please let me see my kids again, please give me a little longer," he wrote in his autobiography. The Tiny Dancer hit-maker has also had both hip and knee replacements and was forced to postpone his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour dates in 2021 following surgery for a fall that affected his hip. He has remained positive about his health problems throughout, joking at the 2024 premiere of his documentary Never Too Late: "I don't have tonsils, adenoids or an appendix. I don't have a prostate. I don't have a right hip or a left knee or a right knee. In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip."