Jeremy Renner
The Avengers star was left in critical condition after his snowplow crushed him but says “I would do it again” to save his nephew
Jeremy Renner will give his first interview since he was critically injured in a snowplough accident in January, telling journalist Diane Sawyer he was “awake every moment” when the seven-ton machine crushed him.
Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph will air April 6 in the US on ABC News ahead of the premiere of Renner’s new Disney+ series Rennervations.
The Avengers actor was hospitalized in critical condition in early January with blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries when his Sno-Cat machine ran him over.
Jeremy Renner posts first video of himself after snow plow accident
A teaser trailer for the interview was released, including the audio of the 911 call made to save Renner’s life. The 52-year-old actor can be heard moaning in pain as people tell him to “keep fighting”.
“Everything,” Renner says to Sawyer when she asks him how much pain he remembers. “I was awake any moment.”
Renner was trying to help his nephew clear snow from his car near his home in Lake Tahoe when the Sno-Cat started rolling. The machine crushed the actor as he tried to stop him from meeting his nephew.
“I would do it again,” Renner tells Sawyer. “You would do it again?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yes, I would do it again. ‘Cause [the snowplough] approached my nephew directly,” Renner replies.
“I see him in a pool of blood coming out of his head,” Renner’s nephew Sawyer said in an interview. “I ran towards him. I didn’t think he was alive.”
Sawyer reads Renner’s list of injuries, including “eight ribs broken in 14 places. Broken right knee, right ankle, broken left shin, broken left ankle, broken right collarbone, broken right shoulder. Face, eye socket, jaw, lower jaw broken. lung collapses. Pierced by the rib bone, your liver – which sounds frightening.”
The actor reveals that at one point he wondered, “What will my body look like? Am I going to be just a spine and a brain, like a science experiment?”
Renner bursts into tears when Sawyer says, “I heard you said in sign language to your family, ‘I’m sorry.'”
“I chose to survive. It won’t kill me, no way,” he says later. “I lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience, but I was refueled and replenished with love and titanium.”
The interview will also include footage of Renner’s physical therapy including using a knee scooter to get around. The actor has taken to social media to update his fans on his progress and two days ago posted a video showing him running on an anti-gravity treadmill for the first time.
“When you look in the mirror, do you see a new face?” Sawyer asks, to which Renner replies, “No, I see a lucky guy.”
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