OZZY OSBOURNE Vows To Return To The Stage: 'I Don't Wanna Let My Fans Down'

Ozzy Osbourne said he "died" twice after an accident on a quad bike that left him in a coma for eight days.

Osbourne's life was saved by bodyguard Sam Ruston who went to his aid after the December 8 crash at Ozzy's country estate in Buckinghamshire, southern England. "If it wasn't for Sam I probably wouldn't be here," Osbourne told Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper.

"He had to bring me back to life twice."

The former BLACK SABBATH singer said he had learnt a lesson from his brush with death. "I'll never go near one of those damn bikes again...I am lucky to be here today and not paralyzed," he said.

"I have lost at least 11 days of my life. It seems like one big nightmare."

"I can't remember a thing, but have been told since that I tumbled down a hill and the bike landed on top of me, crushing my chest. I could have died or been paralyzed. It doesn't bear thinking about."

"I hurt myself so badly I'm lucky to be alive and lucky I can walk. But if I don't wear a neckbrace at the moment, doctors have warned me I could be paralyzed for life. It's like being in a fucking stock — but I just have to take it easy.

"I'm Ozzy Osbourne, rock and roller, but I can barely set foot outside my own front door. I wanted to fly back to Los Angeles this week but doctors said I'm not fit enough. It means I'll have to put up with this crappy British weather for another four weeks!"

"You are bopping along through life and have your ups and downs, but it is amazing how two or three seconds can totally change your life.

"I thought I must have come off my Harley Davidson in Malibu, not my quad-bike in England.

"I didn't know where I was or how long I'd been there. It felt like months or years. I was so confused you could have told me I was lying upside down in a kilt and I'd have believed you!

"Or you could have told me I was stark bollock naked talking to the Queen and I wouldn't know any better.

"It's all patchy. I would drift in and out of consciousness. One minute I would be walking down Beaconsfield High Street and the next I would be in Auckland, New Zealand. Other times I could step from Monmouthshire to fucking California. I went everywhere: Switzerland, Amsterdam... At one point I was convinced I was with a group of Asian fisherman off the coast of Wales. How mad is that?

"Other times there would be a white light shining through the darkness, but no fucking angels, no one blowing trumpets and no man with a white beard."

Regarding the possibility of returning to the performing stage, Ozzy said, I haven't made any plans for the future because something else may go wrong. They have to do more X-rays and scans. You can't rush. I have to take things one step at a time now. Still, I'm pretty optimistic. I don't want to give a date but I'll be back. I don't want to let my fans down. I'll be ready when I'm ready.

"But it's down to me — I've got to fight but sometimes I fight too hard. One day I will walk to the field gate and the next day I'll walk further. On the third day I'm back in bed because I've done too much. As Annie Lennox said, 'Dying is easy but living is hard'. Now I'm walking around I want to run a marathon, I wanna do gigs but if this crack in my vertebra gets worse I could end up crippled."