Heartbreaking confession from Sir Elton John's husband of a "testing" time

Sir Elton John's husband feared for the singer's life after he was struck down by a potentially-deadly infection two months ago.

The 'Rocket Man' hitmaker spent a few nights in intensive care towards the end of April after he fell "violently ill" while travelling on a flight back to the UK from Santiago, Chile, and his spouse David Furnish - with whom he has sons Zachary, six, and Elijah, four - admitted it was a very "testing" time for the family.

However, the 54-year-old filmmaker hid the seriousness of Elton's condition from their children, though they were instrumental in helping the 70-year-old singer recover.

He told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "We were all very frightened and very scared.

"The kids understood daddy wasn't well. They didn't know the seriousness of it, obviously, but they came to visit him in hospital as that was an important part of keeping the patient's spirits up. We didn't give them the full lowdown because we didn't want to overwhelm them."

Thankfully, after taking a break from his hectic schedule and getting lots of bed rest, the 'I'm Still Standing' singer - who fell ill on his way back to the UK from Santiago in Chile - is back on "full form" now.

David added: "He had terrible ­abdominal pains, a fever, swelling, chills, his teeth were chattering, he was sweating.

"It was like food poisoning but much more serious. He clearly needed to be admitted to hospital.

"It was a very rare bacterial infection.

"He was very, very sick. But all is well that ends well. He's in a great place now. He's back to work and on full form."

Although he doesn't tend to rest very often, Elton used his downtime to enjoy spending quality time with his family.

His representative said recently: "He's enjoying spending time with David and the kids. He's also using the time to catch up on even more new music."

Doctors ordered Elton to cancel a series of planned performances at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in April and May after he contracted the infection.

BANG Showbiz