On December 8, 2003, while riding a quad bike around his estate in Buckinghamshire, England, Ozzy lost control after the vehicle hit uneven ground. The ATV flipped and landed on top of him, leaving the 55-year-old rock icon critically injured.
The crash was devastating.
Ozzy broke his collarbone, fractured eight ribs, and damaged vertebrae in his neck. Even more frightening, he stopped breathing for about a minute and a half.
His bodyguard, Sam Ruston, immediately rushed to his aid and performed CPR, helping keep Ozzy alive until paramedics arrived. Doctors later said Ruston's quick actions almost certainly saved his life.
Ozzy spent days in intensive care and months recovering from surgeries and rehabilitation. For a while, there were serious concerns that he might never perform again.
In typical Ozzy fashion, though, he eventually returned to the stage.
The accident changed him physically for the rest of his life. Many of the mobility problems and chronic pain he dealt with in his later years could be traced back to that December afternoon. Even after subsequent falls and spinal surgeries, Ozzy often pointed to the ATV crash as the moment his body was never quite the same.
Looking back, it's remarkable that the Prince of Darkness survived one of the most serious accidents of his life—not because of a wild stunt on stage, but because of a ride around his own property.
It's one more chapter in the unbelievable story of a man who seemed to cheat death time and time again.