Ozzy In Intensive Care, page 1

Rocker Ozzy Stable
After Accident

WILD rock legend Ozzy Osbourne could be kept in intensive care for "several days" following his quad bike accident, his doctor said.

The singer has been on a ventilator since the crash at his Buckinghamshire estate last night, but his condition was described as "stable" and "comfortable".

Osbourne, 55, had emergency surgery after suffering a cracked vertebra in his neck, eight broken ribs, a broken collarbone and a damaged blood vessel.

Circulation in his left arm has now been restored after damage to a blood vessel caused by pressure from his broken collar bone, but he is unable to speak because he has a tube in his mouth.

Osbourne is continuing to receive treatment at the NHS Wexham Park Hospital in Slough and has received visits from his daughter Kelly and wife Sharon, who flew into Heathrow from Los Angeles this afternoon.

The singer has also received several bunches of flowers from well-wishers, while security staff remain in place at the hospital's entrances to keep away over-enthusiastic fans.

Wexham Park Hospital medical director, Dr Dick Jack, said doctors treating the former Black Sabbath frontman were "very satisfied" with his progress.

"We have begun, slowly begun, the process of getting him off the ventilator.

"Now this can take several days so there won't be any major changes in his condition for the next 24 hours.

"The fractured vertebra in his neck, we are quite convinced that this is not going to be the source of any danger but before we can take off the hard collar that he is wearing we are waiting for confirmation from Oxford," he said.

Must have been one hell of a crash!