OZZY: I Am Iron Man

December 16, 2003

OZZY OSBOURNE is to have a 7-inch steel plate fitted to the back of his neck, it was revealed Monday (Dec. 15),according to Mirror.co.uk.

Surgeons will perform the delicate operation as soon as the former BLACK SABBATH frontman is strong enough.

It is understood they will insert the plate and take bone grafts from the 55-year-old singer's pelvis to reinforce the area in a three-hour operation.

The plate will help stabilize the vertebrae Ozzy cracked in a quad bike crash.

Doctors fear that without it Ozzy could suffer permanent damage if he fell on his head or neck again. He also broke eight ribs and his collarbone in the accident at his mansion in Buckinghamshire eight days ago.

Spinal surgeon Alan Gardner said the operation could be carried out only by "the country's top 100 surgeons".

Mr. Gardner, who works at Hartswood Hospital, Essex, added: "The plate will be used to stabilize the area and bone grafts put in so it will be like reinforcing rods in a concrete building, with bone forming all around it.

"The plate will be secure for the rest of the patient's life." It would prevent any pressure being put on the spinal cord.

Ozzy was breathing unaided after doctors at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Berks, took him off a ventilator and he chatted to wife Sharon for the first time.

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