Report: Before Ozzy died, EMS responders fought for two hours to save him

In the days after the final Ozzy/Black Sabbath concert, Ozzy and the family retreated to his mansion in Buckinghamshire. That’s where he died on Tuesday (July 22), just 17 days after that last gig.

Reports say an Thames Valley Air Ambulance was called to his house Tuesday morning. Ozzy, already extremely frail, was failing fast. A chopper was dispatched and landed in a field near the mansion at around 10:30 am.

Paramedics rushed to the house where they found Ozzy in obvious distress. They worked on him for two hours in an effort to save him, but it was all in vain.

In retropsect, it appears that Ozzy was far more ill and frail than anyone knew. Few people realized that he was strapped into his throne at that last show so he wouldn’t slip down onto the stage. Tony Iommi had this today (via Blabbermouth):

“Yeah, it was a shock for us [to find out that Ozzy had died]. I mean, when I heard yesterday, it couldn’t sink in. I thought, ‘It can’t be.’ I only had a text from him the day before. It just seemed unreal, surreal. And it really didn’t sink in. And in the night I started thinking about it: ‘God, am I dreaming all this?’

“But as I said before, he’s not looked well through the rehearsals [for BLACK SABBATH’s farewell performance at ‘Back To The Beginning’]. And I think he really just held out to do that show. I really feel, and me and Geezer [Butler, SABBATH bassist] were talking about it last night, that we think he held out to do it, and just after that, he’s done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really.”