The date was 12 March 2023. My body was shaking all over. My life flashed before my eyes: the incessant binge-drinking sessions, countless blackouts, urinating all over myself, gorging on cheesy chips and Domino’s Pizza in the early hours of the morning, jobs given up after just a few weeks. A life of total fecklessness.
I wasn’t having a panic attack. I was simply having a conversation with the man who inspired me to turn my life around: Elton John. We were at his annual Aids Foundation Oscars party in Hollywood, and I finally had the chance to thank him in person for helping me in my journey to sobriety after years addicted to alcohol. We spoke about recovery, and I told him that the way he overcame his own problems had provided me with the blueprint that would save my life. He may have been wearing a pair of bright red heart-shaped sunglasses at the time, but he was extremely down-to-earth and gracious.
