Jeremy Renner Gives First Interview on Horrific Snowplow Accident: "I'd Do It Again"

Renner was clearing snow from his driveway when the accident occurred.

Heavy snow hit the state of Nevada on New Year's Eve 2022, and on Jan. 1, Renner was clearing his driveway so that visiting family members could leave after gathering for the holidays, CNN reported. While doing so, the actor was accidentally pulled under his 14,000-pound snowplow.

During a press conference, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam explained that Renner had been run over by the machine after it started to roll away while he was not in the driver's seat. According to Balaam, Renner was injured as he tried to get back into the snowplow to stop it, calling the event "a tragic accident."

The actor is opening up about his recovery in a new interview.

A two-minute trailer was released on March 29 for Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph, which marks the actor's first exclusive interview after his horrifying accident. The special will air on ABC on April 6, and in the first look at the interview, we see Renner opening up about just how traumatic his experience was—telling Sawyer that he remembers all of the pain he endured.

"I was awake through every moment," Renner says. As Sawyer explains in the trailer, the accident left the Marvel actor with eight ribs broken in 14 places and both ankles broken, as well as a broken right knee, left tibia, right clavicle, right shoulder, and jawbone. He also had a collapsed lung and his liver was pierced by a shattered rib.

Renner tells Sawyer that he would "do it again."

Despite his severe and traumatic injuries, Renner says he wouldn't change what he did. "I'd do it again," the actor tells Sawyer in the interview. When the ABC host pushes Renner on why, he explains, "Yeah, I'd do it again because it was going right at my nephew."

A report from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office revealed that Renner was trying to stop his snowplow from sliding and hitting his nephew.

"The Pistenbully snow groomer began sliding causing Renner to exit the vehicle without setting the emergency brake," the report stated, per CNN. "Although the Pistenbully had some mechanical issues, it is believed based on our mechanical inspection that the parking brake would keep the Pistenbully from moving forward. 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 actor's nephew is also featured in the new ABC special, describing his perspective of the accident. "I just perfectly see him in a pool of blood coming from his head," Renner's nephew tells Sawyer. "And when I ran up to him, you know, I didn't think he was alive."

Renner says he feels lucky after the accident.

The trailer also features 911 recordings from the New Year's Day accident, in which Renner can be heard groaning in pain. "This is the sound of someone that was dying," a voiceover states in the trailer.

Renner tells Sawyer he was determined to fight as he underwent treatment and surgery. "I chose to survive," the actor says. "It's not going to kill me. No way."

Renner also seems hopeful as he and Sawyer talk about the possibility of him being able to return to doing stunt work after the accident. "I've lost a lot of flesh and blood in this experience but I've been refueled and refilled with love and titanium," he says.

When asked by Sawyer if he looks in the mirror now and still sees the same face, Renner says, "No, I see a lucky man."