Ozzy Osbourne Reveals He Almost Died From Staph Infection

Ozzy Osbourne has revealed that he almost died from a staph infection in his thumb, and that this [...]

Ozzy Osbourne has revealed that he almost died from a staph infection in his thumb, and that this was the cause for his recent hospitalization.

While speaking to Rolling Stone, Osbourne shared the details of how sick he was and how life-threatening the situation became, explaining that at first he had no idea anything serious was wrong with him.

"I didn't feel sick, so I was cracking jokes," he explained. "The doctor said, 'I don't know if you realize, Mr. Osbourne, this is a very serious problem you have.' Sharon said, 'Would you stop f—ing making jokes?'"

Finally he began to understand the magnitude of what was happening. "They're all extremely, deadly serious about it," Osbourne continued. "I judge it based on the expression and the body language of the doctor. If he comes in with a really solemn face, I go, 'Oh, OK. My time to go is up.'"

The doctors then ran some tests and discovered that the rock star did not just have one staph infection. He had three, all in his thumb. The first step in getting him better, he then shared, was for the doctors to freeze his thumb.

"You put your thumb in front of your face on your right hand, they went in by the side of the nail on the left side for the flesh under the nail," Osbourne recalled. "They cut all this stuff out. Even with the numbing stuff, it was agony. It wasn't pus, but it was the stage after pus, when it gets in the blood and goes in your body and fucking kills you. It may sound fucked up what I'm saying to you, but he was really concerned about checking my blood."

It turns, out that he may have gotten the infection simply by shaking hands with a fan. "'Can you remember talking to someone and shaking hands?'" Osbourne recalled the doctor asking him. "Well, I do that meet and greet at the gig and I must shake fucking 200 hands a day. [The doctor] said, 'That explains it.'"

Regarding how he is feeling now, Osbourne said that he hasn't "been able to do anything."

"I'm right-handed. You can't wipe your own a—" he joked. "And I didn't have many fucking volunteers who would do it for me."

Ultimately, Osbourne says that he is getting better and that he is looking forward to getting back on the road and touring more in 2019.

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