Sir Elton John tells boy: Your video made me cry

Sir Elton John has personally phoned a teenager to praise his "inspirational" video about living with a disability.

The singer responded after Lewis Hine posted the photo montage on his Facebook page to mark his 16th birthday.

Lewis said that he had never expected it to go viral but it has now been watched more than eight million times.

Sir Elton made contact via Lewis' mother, Emma Hine, who received a phone call from a woman from his office.

Ms Hine told Sky News: "Three minutes after I spoke to his assistant, Elton called.

"He said with all the bad news in the world, he was so inspired by Lewis's video and just had to call to thank him.

"He was amazing and so caring and genuine."

Lewis said he had been "speechless" when Sir Elton had called him.

"I didn't know what to do," he added.

"He said he saw the video and it made him cry."

Lewis, who lives in Hampshire, has had more than a dozen operations since he was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 17 months.

He added: "I feel so happy that so many people have taken the time to watch my video and better understand the impact that a disability can have on your life, and how it can stop you doing things you want to do."

Lewis said the success of the video was already helping him raise money to organise a prom for schoolchildren who have missed theirs due to illness.

Ms Hine added: "Lewis wanted to do something to show people that being disabled doesn't have to be a bad thing and you can still achieve your dreams."