Jeremy Renner Still Feels 'Complete Chaos' In Parts Of His Body After His Gruesome Snowplow Accident

Yahoo

9 hours ago

Jeremy Renner is still recovering from his near-fatal 2023 snowplow accident that left him with over 30 broken bones and severe internal injuries.
In a new interview, the actor shared how his survival was due to mental grit, breathing techniques from childhood, and quick help from his nephew and neighbors.
Jeremy Renner's traumatic experience inspired his recovery-themed music project, "Love and Titanium," and has given him a renewed perspective on life.
Renner may appear to be back on his feet, but the actor admits he's still grappling with the severe aftermath of his life-threatening snowplow accident.
During a recent chat with The Guardian, the 54-year-old revealed that, despite his outward appearance, his recovery is far from over.
"My mouth is still in complete chaos," Renner said. "It looks fine, but when I bite down, it feels as if I'm going to break all my teeth."
The Marvel star was severely injured on January 1, 2023, when his 14,000-pound snowplow ran him over.
The snowplow accident left Renner with a staggering list of injuries: six ribs broken in 14 places, three pelvic fractures, a broken left tibia, shattered ankles, a fractured wrist, broken toes, a crushed mandible and jaw, a collapsed lung, and a liver punctured by a broken rib.
Reflecting on the near-death experience, Renner described a moment of profound calm.
"What I experienced when I passed was this collective divinity and beautiful, powerful peace," he said. "It is the most exhilarating peace you could ever feel. It's the highest adrenaline rush."
Renner noted: "Everything stopped … maybe for 30 seconds, maybe a minute. It was definitive for me. It all made perfect sense."
The almost-fatal accident happened when Renner was clearing snow on New Year's Day so his family could enjoy a ski outing.
His 27-year-old nephew, Alex, was helping him at the time. After they had finished clearing the driveway, Renner stepped out of the snowplow, not realizing he hadn't engaged the parking brake.
Moments later, the massive 14,000-pound machine began rolling toward Alex. Renner immediately sprang into action, attempting to climb back into the cab to stop it. In the chaos, he slipped and fell onto the ice, and the snowplow rolled over him before continuing its path.
When asked if the machine would have actually struck his nephew, Renner admitted he didn't have time to think it through.
"It's hard to say. You've not got time to make a rational decision," Renner explained. "You just do it. The worst scenario is that he is crushed. So I just had to act. There was no way I was going to take that risk and see my nephew's head on the ground, cut in half. No chance. I'm not doing that. I'm not taking the chance, so that's why I'd do it again in two seconds."
During the conversation, Renner shared that he still can't fully explain how he made it through his horrific snowplow accident, but he believes a series of strange but meaningful factors played a role in his survival, some dating as far back as childhood.
At just 12 years old, he had attended a Lamaze breathing class with his mother while she was pregnant. However, after the accident, breathing was agony.
His lungs were collapsing under the weight of his injuries, and carbon dioxide was building up in his bloodstream.
On the 911 recording, Renner can be heard struggling to breathe, each groan echoing like a death rattle.
To fight through it, he forced his lungs to work by repeating a strange phrase: "hookers, whores, and hamburgers." The sharp "H" sounds helped stimulate airflow.
Renner credits his nephew Alex and his neighbors Rich Kovach and Barb Fletcher, whom he had never met before the incident, for helping keep him alive until paramedics arrived. He also gives credit to sheer mental grit.
"I was bullying my body into thinking it wasn't that bad and my mind was overcoming the greatest odds it's ever come up against," he told The Guardian. "My mind was saying, 'Nah!' It was part stubbornness. 'I don't want to lose this battle, this game,' but the deeper part, the zoomed-out part, is I had so much to live for,'" Renner explained.
The actor spent nearly two weeks in the hospital recovering. The experience later inspired him to release "Love and Titanium," a musical project chronicling the emotional and physical toll of his ordeal.