Jeremy Renner has spoken out about his horrific snowplow accident, saying he "chose to survive" after his body was crushed by the massive machine on New Year's Day.
The Marvel star was hospitalized in critical condition with blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries in early January after he tried to save his nephew from being injured by the snowplow, which then ran Renner over. In his first interview since the accident, the "Avengers" actor revealed to journalist Diane Sawyer he was "awake through every moment" of the incident.
"I'd do it again," Renner tells Sawyer in a sneak peek of the interview, which will air in the U.S. on ABC News on April 6.
"You'd do it again?" Sawyer asks.
"Yeah, I'd do it again. 'Cause [the snowplow] was going right at my nephew," Renner replied.
Renner was trying to help his nephew free his car from snow near his home in Lake Tahoe when the snowplow began "sliding sideways" then "it began to roll down the hill," according to a Washoe County Sheriff's Office report obtained by CNN.
Renner jumped out of the machine, known as a PistenBully, but when he realized it was heading directly toward his nephew he attempted to stop "or divert the PistenBully," according to the report.
"The PistenBully rolled over him and continued down the road," the report read.
"I see him in a pool of blood coming from his head," Renner's nephew tells Sawyer in the interview. "I ran up to him. I didn't think he was alive."
Reading over a list of injuries, Sawyer noted Renner suffered "eight ribs broken in 14 places. Right knee, right ankle broken, left leg tibia broken, left ankle broken, right clavicle broken, right shoulder broken. Face, eye socket, jaw, mandible broken. Lung collapsed. Pierced from the rib bone, your liver — which sounds terrifying."
The actor admitted at one point he wondered, "What's my body going to look like? Am I just going to be a spine and a brain, like a science experiment?"
"I chose to survive," he says later. "That's not gonna kill me, no way. I've lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience, but I've been refueled and refilled with love and titanium."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.