Jeremy Renner will appear in his first on camera interview following his snow plow accident.
In the trailer for “Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph,” the 52-year-old “Avengers” actor opens up not only about the critical moments after he was pulled from the 14,000 pound piece of heavy machinery, but also his recovery and the impact it had on his family.
Renner tells Diane Sawyer in the two minute teaser, “I chose to survive. You’re not going to kill me. No way.”
According to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department, on January 1, the “Hawkeye” star was airlifted to a nearby hospital after he was injured clearing snowfall following a severe storm at his home in the Mt. Rose Highway area. While exiting the snowplow, the actor discovered the emergency brake system hadn’t been applied properly and began to slide towards his nephew who was in the line of direct impact.
In an effort to save him, Renner attempted to step up on the track of the plow in order to stop or divert its path.
The “Mayor of Kingstown” actor revealed he not only remembered the pain of being run over, but was also “awake for every moment” of the ordeal.
His nephew, who “didn’t think he was alive,” recalled running up to his uncle who he said was lying in a “pool of blood coming from his head.”
In audio of a family member’s frantic call to 911, Renner could be heard moaning in pain as his family urged him to “keep breathing” and “keep fighting.”
“This is the sound of someone dying,” Renner said of the clip.
Sawyer recited the extent of his injuries, including 30 broken bones, “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 rib bone [into] your liver — which sounds terrifying,” the journalist noted.
While learning the extent of his injuries, Renner joked he questioned what his body would look like in the aftermath, “What’s my body look like?” he recalled thinking, “Am I just going to be like a spine and a brain like a science experiment?”
Though the accident was traumatic for both him and his family, Renner has no regrets about stepping in and told Sawyer he would “do it again.”
“I’d do it again,” the actor stated. “Because it was going right at my nephew.”
“Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph” will air on April 6 at 7 p.m. PT on ABC. The hour-long special will also be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
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