Ozzy Osbourne's health battles – 'nearly dead', horror accidents and botched surgery

Ozzy Osbourne's life has been plagued with health woes over the years.

The Godfather of Metal, who turned 76 today (December 3), has suffered with debilitating health issues over the years, which have left him reliant on a wheelchair and crutches for mobility. The rock legend has confessed to having "seven surgeries in the past five years" and gets treatment for Parkinson's disease.

Ozzy became the lead singer of Black Sabbath from 1968 until he was dismissed in 1979 due to his heavy alcohol and drug abuse. Following his departure from Black Sabbath, Ozzy carved out a successful solo career and later established the annual Ozzfest tour with his wife, Sharon Osbourne, 72, and their son Jack, 38.

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He also starred alongside them and his daughter Kelly Osbourne, 39, in the popular MTV reality show The Osbournes. However, Ozzy's life has been plagued with several other serious health issues, reports the Express.

In 2003, the singer fractured vertebrae in his neck during a horror quad-biking accident in Buckinghamshire. The Iron Man hitmaker also broke his collarbone and injured six ribs in the terrifying accident.

Sharon later revealed that her husband's heart had stopped during the crash and he was revived by a security guard. "He had stopped breathing for a minute and a half and there was no pulse," she told The Mirror.

"But thank God, the security guard was there to revive him. He resuscitated him and got him breathing and his pulse going again. We are so, so grateful to him."

Years later in 2019, Ozzy had another bad accident - he fell over at his family home in Los Angeles in the middle of the night while recovering from pneumonia. When the father-of-five hit his bathroom floor, he thought he was paralysed and cried out to his wife for assistance.

"I saw this big white flash when I hit the floor, and I thought, 'You've finally done it now'," he told The Daily Mail. "I knew it was serious, I thought I was paralysed, so very calmly I said, 'Sharon, I can't move. I think I've done my neck. Call an ambulance."

The fall also aggravated damage to his neck and back, caused by the injury he picked up during the quad-bike crash in 2003. The fall dislodged metal rods that were previously placed in him after the quad bike crash.

Doctors put metal plates into the star's neck after his fall, but these were later taken out due to the discomfort he experienced. Ozzy has complained about the botched op and believes that too much blame has been placed on his Parkinson's since the surgery.

He told The Sun: "I mean, when I came off the quad bike in 2003, I still did tours and I had Parkinson's back then. It was THAT f------g surgery. I went to the doctor's and you assume everybody knows what they're doing.

Admitting his struggles to walk, he said: "My son Jack has a video of me going into surgery, saying, 'I'll see you in a few minutes'. I haven't walked properly since."

Ozzy also told the publication he's not got long left, saying: "I'm nearly f***ing dead!". He's undergone a total of four spinal surgeries to treat the damage he sustained from the fall in 2019, the latter of which was last September, and he's said he won't be having any more.

"It's really knocked me about," he told Rolling Stone UK of his fall and surgery woes. "The second surgery went drastically wrong and virtually left me crippled. I thought I'd be up and running after the second and third, but with the last one they put a f***ing rod in my spine.

"They found a tumour in one of the vertebrae, so they had to dig all that out too. It's pretty rough, man, and my balance is all f***ed up."

In the interview, he said he reckons he's got 10 more years to live "at best". He told the outlet: "I said to Sharon that I’d smoked a joint recently and she said, ‘What are you doing that for! It’ll f---ing kill you!’ I said, ‘How long do you want me to f---ing live for?!’"

In 2020, the Prince of Darkness revealed on Good Morning America that he's battling Parkinson's, which he was diagnosed with in 2019. He called 2019 one of his "most painful and miserable" years.

Ozzy, who was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in October, has been dealing with severe nerve pain, mobility issues, and blood clots. He regularly gets injections of blood thinners to prevent blood clots in his legs.

Last year, Ozzy announced his retirement from touring and announced he is "not physically capable" of continuing to perform around the world. He said announcing his retirement was "one of the hardest" things he's ever had to tell fans.

In his latest health update, the legend could be seen getting ready to sign autographs at Son of Monsterpalooza with his family. In a video, Ozzy could be seen signing his name while his son Jack encouraged him to go “faster, faster”.

Despite his illnesses, he made it to the event on October 12, posing for pictures at the pre-Halloween convention beside Sharon and their children.

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