Jeremy Renner is now beginning to reveal a few more details about what happened when he was nearly crushed to death by a snowplow in a horrific New Year’s Day accident. Joking about what happened to him and expressing guilt about what his nephew had to see during a recent interview, he said:
“One thing I thought about once I was clear enough – this was still while I was on the ground before the ambulance even got there – was what my experience was like, but then I had to think about Alex’s because Alex was there during the entire time, I mean he had to see his Uncle Jeremy on the ground.”
Continuing, he added, “I didn’t see any of this stuff. the blood everywhere, and the thing and the eye, all this stuff, and I had to consider what his perspective was, and then that kept happening with everyone’s perspective throughout this entire ordeal. It’s pretty harrowing to really take the time to consider someone else’s perspective.”
Alex Fries is Jeremy Renner’s nephew. They both saved each other on that terrible day, with Renner saving Fries from getting hit by a snowplow and Fries then both holding his uncle in a certain position to help him breathe despite his punctured lung and running to get Renner help.
In addition to that more serious part of the interview, Kimmel and Renner joked some, as Renner appeared in high spirits. For example, Kimmel, at one point, jokingly asked, “Was this a publicity stunt?” Renner, in response, said, “Absolutely.” Kimmel added, “Now if there was any question as to who the toughest Avenger was, that’s settled now. Forget [Chris] Hemsworth, forget these guys, it’s you, you’re the guy.”
Real-life superhero @JeremyRenner is here!!! 🙌💙 pic.twitter.com/LZyagrpJgY
— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) April 11, 2023
At another point in the interview, Renner said that when he was in the hospital he reflected on the opportunity to slow down for a bit that the accident gave him, saying, “My first conscious thought was, ‘Holy hell, my calendar’s freed up for the rest of the year’… I was making so many plans, I was gonna buy a boat, I’m gonna go live in Mexico, because my year was pretty jammed up before I got crushed. But now I’m like, ‘No one can mess with me, I’m free.’”
He also added that the reaction of others to his injuries was somewhat scary, as it made him think he might not pull through, saying, “Everybody’s acting like it’s an open casket, and you’re living through it. Their reaction was what made me think I really hurt myself. I might not pull out of this.”
Renner was very lucky that the massive machine somehow missed most of his vital organs. Speaking about his injuries, he said, “It just missed every vertebrae, did not hit any organs, my brain did not swell, nothing like that. My eye did pop out. That’s weird. But I got pretty lucky that none of the organs got messed up.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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