‘I’d do it again’: Jeremy Renner fights back tears in first interview since horrific snowfall as he describes breaking 30 bones after being crushed under a 7-tonne snowplow to save his nephew
- Renner was crushed on January 1 near his home in Lake Tahoe, Nevada
- He and his nephew were trying to tow a car when Snowcat lunged at him
- Renner tried to jump back onto the moving plow but was dragged under it
Actor Jeremy Renner said in his first interview since being crushed by a 7-tonne snowplow that he would do it again to save his nephew’s life.
Renner suffered 30 broken bones, a collapsed lung, and his liver was punctured by a shattered rib in a horrific death-defying accident on New Year’s Day.
He was using a Snowcat plow trying to help his adult nephew pull his car out of deep snow near his home in Lake Tahoe when he jumped off it, forgetting to put the emergency brake on.
The plow began to rush towards his nephew.
It is believed that Renner attempted to return to the snowplow while it was in motion in an attempt to stop it.
This is when it was pulled out from under him and crushed.
Actor Jeremy Renner in his first interview since nearly dying in a snowplow accident on Jan. 1
Renner’s nephew was standing in the way of the snowplow when it started charging towards him
Renner’s adult nephew tells Diane Sawyer he thought his uncle was dead when he saw him lying in a “pool of blood”.
Renner in a snowplow that crushed him just under 13 minutes before the accident on January 1
he said in his first interview since the accident ABC’s Diane Sawyerthat he had been kept awake throughout the horrific incident and could recall the burning pain.
“I was up through it all,” he says.
The interview will be broadcast in full on April 6 but a teaser trailer was released today.
“I would do it again,” he said firmly to a skeptical Sawyer.
He was coming to my nephew. I’d like to do it again.’
The special includes Renner’s nephew telling Sawyer that he believes he is dead.
I just see him in a pool of blood running down his head. I ran towards him, I didn’t think he was alive.
The dreaded 911 dispatch calls are also included as Renner can be heard moaning in the background.
There is a lot of blood here. The caller could be heard saying he was in dire straits.
Renner’s extensive injuries included a collapsed lung, punctured liver, and 30 broken bones
Renner spent weeks in the hospital before he was allowed to go home. He said he didn’t know how much of it was left after crushing it: ‘Will I look like a spine? Like an alien science experiment?
Renner is recovering in a wheelchair. The actor is still undergoing intensive physical therapy
“You’re not going to kill me,” Renner says on the ABC special, which will air next week. “I choose to stay alive.”
Renner gets a head massage from his sister. “I’ve lost a lot of flesh and bone, but I’ve refueled and refilled with love — and titanium,” he joked in the special.
Renner broke 30 bones, including his ankles, right knee, right collarbone, and eight ribs.
He had a collapsed lung and his liver was punctured by one of his broken ribs.
“I lost a lot of flesh and bone, but I refuel and refill with love — and titanium,” he joked.
He tells Sawyer that he considers himself a “lucky guy” when he looks in the mirror, and that he “chose to stay alive”, believing “you wouldn’t kill me”.
Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Tale of Survival and Triumph Horror will air on ABC Thursday, April 6 at 10pm EST.
