‘I was awake every moment’: Jeremy Renner chokes up in first interview since horrific snowplough accident

‘I’ve lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience but I’ve been refuelled and refilled with love and titanium,’ actor said

Jeremy Renner has spoken about the moments leading up to his horrific snowplough accident and the lengthy recovery period after, in his first interview since the accident.

On New Year’s Day, the Avengers star, 52, was rushed to hospital after being run over by a 14,000-pound snowplough outside his home in Nevada.

Months after the near-fatal incident, Renner spoke with ABC news anchor Diane Sawyer in an exclusive sit-down interview for a special segment, A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph.

In a preview of the interview, which airs on Thursday 6 April on ABC at 10pm EST, the actor told Sawyer he has no regrets about what happened.

“I’d do it again!” he said. “Because it was going right at my nephew.”

At the time, Renner had been using the PistenBully snowcat to rescue his truck from the snow near his home.

When he got out to speak to his nephew, the snow groomer “began sliding causing Renner to exit the vehicle without setting the emergency brake”, according to police reports obtained by CNN.

“When Renner attempted to stop or divert the Pistenbully to avoid injury to [his nephew], he was pulled under the vehicle by the track and run over,” the report said.

Speaking to Sawyer separately, Renner’s nephew described finding his uncle “in a pool of blood coming from his head”. “I ran up to him, and I didn’t think he was alive,” he said.

Sawyer then read the extensive list of Renner’s injuries: “Eight ribs broken in 14 places, right knee, right ankle broken, left leg tibia broken, the left ankle broken, right clavicle broken, right shoulder broken, face, eye socket, the jaw, the mandible broken, lung collapsed, pierced from the rib bone, your liver, which sounds terrifying.”

“Yep,” the actor confirmed, before he recalled wondering what his body looked like and whether he was “just gonna be a spine and a brain like a science experiment”.

Later, Sawyer shared that “I heard that you had – in sign language – said to your family ‘I am sorry,’” nearly bringing Renner to tears.

“I chose to survive. It’s not going to kill me, no way!” Renner said. “I’ve lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience but I’ve been refuelled and refilled with love and titanium.”

Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph airs on ABC, Hulu and Disney Plus on Thursday 6 April.