Ozzy Recovering From Crash

Musician Ozzy Osbourne is making good progress after his quad bike accident and is now able to breathe on his own, hospital officials said Monday.

The former "Black Sabbath" frontman was able to talk to his wife Sharon at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, west of London, where he was taken after the accident last Monday, the hospital said in a statement.

Osbourne, 55, has been in intensive care since the accident at his estate in Buckinghamshire, southern England.

He fractured his left collarbone, eight ribs and a neck vertebra and had emergency surgery shortly after admission to restore the flow to a damaged blood vessel.

The Daily Mirror tabloid last week quoted Sharon Osbourne as saying her husband stopped breathing and his heart stopped for a minute after the accident. A security guard had resuscitated him, she said.

"He resuscitated him and got him breathing and his pulse going again. We are so, so grateful to him," she said.

The hospital's medical director has said he expects the 55-year-old rocker and reality television star to make a steady recovery.

Sharon Osbourne reportedly said doctors did not yet know whether her husband would have any long-term effects.

"The doctors are hoping there hasn't been any lasting damage, but until Ozzy can actually come round and get off the ventilator and then they will know," she was quoted as saying.

She reportedly added that Ozzy Osbourne crashed as he drove over uneven ground and the bike landed on top of him.

A quad bike, akin to a four-wheel-drive motorcycle, is used for recreation and by hunters and farmers to reach inaccessible places.

Born John Michael Osbourne, Ozzy Osbourne first earned fame as a member of Black Sabbath, a pioneering heavy metal band, starting in the 1960s.

He eventually went solo, but his career stalled amid rampant drug use and wild antics that included biting the heads off animals.

His career enjoyed a rebirth with the MTV reality show featuring his home and family life.