Jeremy Renner has revealed that he wrote a goodbye note to his family as he feared death after being crushed underneath a seven-ton snowplow near his home in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
In his first interview since the horrific accident on January 1, the Avengers star recounted his final thoughts, crediting his nephew for saving his life and speaking to how ‘grateful’ he was to not be alone in that moment.
Renner remembered moaning in agony beneath the monster machinery and said in the emotional interview: ‘If I was there on my own, It would have been a horrible way to die. And surely I would have. Surely.’
He suffered 30 broken bones, a collapsed lung and had his liver pierced by a shattered rib in the horrific, death-defying accident on New Year’s Day.
Jeremy Renner has revealed that he wrote a goodbye note to his family as he feared death after being crushed underneath a seven-ton snowplow near his home in Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Renner’s extensive injuries included a collapsed lung, pierced liver and 30 broken bones
The 52-year-old had been using the Snowcat plow to try to help his adult nephew, Alexander Fries, pull his car out of deep snow when he jumped out, forgetting to put on the emergency brake.
The plow started barreling towards his nephew.
Renner is believed to have tried to get back into the snowplow while it was moving in in an effort to bring it to a halt. That is when he was pulled beneath it and crushed.
In his first interview since the accident, he told ABC’s Diane Sawyer, that he remained awake throughout the horrifying incident and can remember the searing pain.
He said he was ‘grateful’ that his nephew had been there or he would have surely died.
‘But I wasn’t alone, it was my nephew, sweet Alex and the rest of the cavalry came,’ he said.
Renner was convinced he would die and began frantically writing down notes on his phone, he revealed.
‘So I’m writing down notes on my phone, and last words to my family,’ he said pausing and holding back tears.
Renner was convinced he would die and began frantically writing down notes on his phone so he could say his goodbyes to family, he revealed
‘So I’m writing down notes on my phone, and last words to my family,’ he said pausing and holding back tears
Renner receiving a head massage from his sister. ‘I’ve lost a lot of flesh and bone but I have been refueled and refilled with love – and titanium,’ he joked in the special
Renner spent weeks in the hospital before being allowed home. He said he didn’t know how much of him was left after being crushed
Renner in the snowplow that he became crushed beneath just 13 minutes before the accident on January 1
In another sneak peak at Renner’s interview he told Sawyer that he was ‘awake through all of it.
‘I would do it again,’ he says firmly to an incredulous Sawyer. ‘It was coming right at my nephew. I would do it again.’
The interview will air in full on April 6 and includes Renner’s nephew telling Sawyer that he thought his uncle was dead.
‘I just perfectly see him in a pool of blood coming from his head. I ran up to him, I didn’t think he was alive.’
Harrowing 911 dispatch calls are also included, in which Renner can be heard groaning in the background.
‘There is a lot of blood here. He is in rough shape,’ the caller can be heard saying.
Renner broke 30 bones including both ankles, his right knee, his right clavicle, and eight ribs.
Renner’s nephew, Alexander Fries, was standing in the snowplow’s path when it began hurtling towards him. Renner tried to jump back into the driver’s seat to stop it, but was dragged under
Renner recovering in a wheelchair. The actor is still undergoing extensive physiotherapy
He suffered a collapsed lung and his liver was pierced by one of his broken ribs.
‘I’ve lost a lot of flesh and bone but I have been refueled and refilled with love – and titanium,’ he joked.
He told Sawyer he considers himself a ‘lucky man’ when he looks in the mirror, and that he ‘chose to survive’, thinking ‘you’re not going to kill me.’
Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph will air on ABC on Thursday April 6th at 10pm EST.
