LOOK: Jeremy Renner says he refuses to be ‘haunted’ by the memory of the snowplow accident
Jeremy Renner refuses to be “haunted” by the memory of his life-threatening snowplow accident.
In his first interview, “Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview — A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph,” airing Thursday, April 6 at 10 pm ET on ABC, the “Avengers” star reflects on the accident and shares how he wants to move forward.
“I changed the narrative of being a victim or making a mistake or whatever,” he said. “I refuse to be haunted by that memory like that.”
MORE: Jeremy Renner shares an adorable note from his nephew as he recovers from a snowplow accident
On New Years Day 2023, firefighters and paramedics responded to a 911 call about Renner. The caller, Renner’s neighbor Rich Kovach, told the 911 dispatcher over the phone that Renner had been “run over by a snow cat” and asked them to send help.
“It was blood, the amount of blood, and then there was…he was in a lot of pain,” Kovach told Sawyer. “And the sounds coming from him, and there was so much blood on the snow. And then when I looked at his head, it seemed to me like it was completely open. And I could see white, I don’t know.” I know if that was his skull, yes… maybe it was just my imagination, but that’s what I thought I saw.”
Kovach recalled calling her partner Barb Fletcher for help at the time as well.
“I just saw somebody laying there, and there was a lot of blood coming out of his head and I grabbed one of the towels,” Fletcher said. “He was still bent over and just applying pressure. I could tell he was really struggling to breathe.”
Also on the scene with Renner was his 27-year-old nephew Alex Fries, who said he was holding Renner’s arm in an attempt to help him breathe.
Renner said that he “was awake at all times.”
“I started moving my legs,” he said. “I said, ‘Oh, that one, that one is really wrong. Oh yeah, that’s going to, that’s going to be a problem.'”
MORE: Jeremy Renner reveals he broke more than 30 bones in a snowplow accident
“And I was thinking, ‘What’s my body like? Am I going to be like a backbone in a brain like a science experiment?'” Renner recalled. “Is that my existence now? I felt like I was just saying ‘What am I, what will my existence be like?’
When Renner was finally transported to the hospital, he was initially intubated and underwent several surgeries. Unable to speak, Renner said he gestured “I’m sorry” in sign language to his family.
“I was signing that, because I am, I’m sorry,” Renner said.
He said he is grateful to the family that has stood by him throughout his recovery, both physically and mentally.
“This is what I talk about with my family from all their perspectives, which are horrible, that I put on them,” Renner added. “What we just endured. That’s true love. It’s suffering. But that feeds the seeds of what love is.”
Watch “Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview: A Story of Horror, Survival, and Triumph” completes Thursday, April 6 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC and the next day on Hulu.
