MOVIE STAR JEREMY Renner has given his first interview since he was critically injured after being crushed in a snowplough accident in January of this year near his home in Lake Tahoe.
Speaking exclusively to Diane Sawyer, Renner explained that he would go through the accident again, because he was trying to save his nephew: “i’d do it again, it was going right at him”.
Renner, 51, is known for playing Hawkeye in multiple Marvel blockbusters. He has also been nominated for Oscars for his performances in “The Hurt Locker” and “The Town”.
Renner was trying to help his nephew free his car from snow when his Sno-Cat, a 7-tonne piece of machinery, began to roll.
He told Sawyer, in an exclusive interview which is set to air on Thursday 6 April on ABC, that he “chose to survive” after the life-threatening accident.
In a trailer released on YouTube, Renner’s nephew says that he didn’t think Renner was alive when the accident happened.
“I see him in a pool of blood coming from his head, I ran up to him,” his nephew said.
The trailer also featured audio clips of the 911 call that was made to emergency services immediately after Renner was crushed.
“Someone’s been run over by a Sno-Cat, hurry,” the caller says, adding: “There’s a lot of blood”.
Sawyer reads out a full list of the injuries 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 said that he remembers every moment of the pain he experienced during the accident, as he was awake the entire time.
He further said that afterwards he was worried that his body, post-recovery, would look like “a science experiment”.
When Sawyer asked him whether he believes that he will ever be able to do his own stunts again, Renner replied: “I have lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience but I have been filled with a lot of love and titanium”.
He added that when he looks in the mirror today, he sees a “lucky man”.
In one particularly emotional moment, Sawyer asks Renner if it is true that in the weeks after the accident he said “sorry” to his family in sign language.
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