Elton John has stepped in to pay for knee surgery needed by his ex fiancée - a full fifty years after he jilted her two weeks before their wedding.
Linda Hannon, who first met the singer in the late sixties before he was famous, has revealed that she contacted Elton when she was in financial difficulties over her health issue and he did not hesitate to help out.
The 76-year-old doctor's surgery manager, who now lives in Dallas, Texas, has been suffering with knee pain and after five-weeks of bedrest, she was told she needed surgery but was struggling to make ends meet.
Speaking to the Mirror, she said, "My knee is awful to walk on. I thought of Reg and whether he could help. It was a long shot."
Linda recalled how she had met Elton, then still named Reg Dwight, and they became a couple. As he struggled financially in the early over of his career, she would help him.
"In the late sixties, Reg and Bernie [Taupin] weren’t earning any money, so I was hoping, from one friend to another, whether they could help me through this financial blip."
She added, "When Reg started out, I was paying the rent, bills and for the food. It was while they were trying to live their dreams."
However, Elton called off the couple’s wedding at short notice after Bernie Taupin convinced him that marriage would ruin both his and Linda’s life.
A half a century later, and despite having not spoken to her since then, Elton was happy to pay for her medical costs.
Linda said: "I am so touched by Reg. After all these years, it’s so kind. I am thrilled to bits that he is offering to help."
The Mirror quotes a source close to the star, who said the singer, "didn’t hesitate for a second" and is "really pleased" to help Linda out.
