Jeremy Renner has given his first interview since he was nearly killed in a snow plough accident in January, saying he was “awake through every moment” as he was crushed.
A trailer for Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph gives viewers a taster of what will air in the US next month.
Renner was trying to stop a six-tonne snow plough from crashing into his nephew when he was sucked under the machine, breaking more than 30 bones on New Year’s Day.
The 52-year-old Marvel star said he remembered “all of” the pain, adding: “I was awake through every moment.”
Renner’s nephew Alexander Fries described the aftermath of the accident, saying his uncle was “in a pool of blood coming from his head”.
“I ran up to him. I didn’t think he was alive.”
“I’d do it again,” Renner told Sawyer. “You’d do it again?” she replied.
“Yeah, I’d do it again. ‘Cause [the snow plough] was going right at my nephew,” Renner said.
Sawyer read a 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.”
The actor recalled wondering what his body looked like.
Renner teared up when Sawyer said: “I heard that you had, in sign language, you said to your family, ‘I’m sorry’.”
“I chose to survive. That’s not gonna kill me, no way,” he told her later in the interview.
“I’ve lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience, but I’ve been refuelled and refilled with love and titanium.”
The interview is due to air in the US on ABC News on 6 April.
