Stephen: Jeremy Renner details near-fatal injury in first interview since snow plow accident

Photo: CBS Mornings / YouTube

Jeremy Renner spoke with Diane Sawyer in his first sit-down interview since surviving a tragic snowplow accident on New Year’s Day. The Avengers star suffered more than 30 broken bones as a result of the incident.

“I’ve lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience, but I’ve been refueled and refilled with love and titanium,” he said. Renner was helping his nephew, Alex Fries, move a truck that got stuck in the snow. “I just happened to be the dummy standing on the dang track a little bit, seeing if my nephew was there,” he said.

Renner continued, “You should be inside the vehicle when you’re operating you know what I mean? It’s kind of like driving a car with your foot outside the car … It is what it was. And it’s my mistake, and I paid for it.”

Renner’s neighbor, Rich Kovach, described the harrowing experience of seeing him after he was crushed by the snowplow. “He was just in such pain and the sounds that were coming out of him,” Kovach said. “And so much blood in the snow. When I looked at his head, it appeared to be cracked wide open. I knew it was extremely serious.”

The Mayor of Kingstown actor added, “If I was there on my own, that would’ve been a horrible way to die. And surely I would have. Surely. But I wasn’t alone. It was my nephew, sweet Alex. And the rest of the cavalry came.”

On Friday, Renner took to Instagram to share that he was enjoying being at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. “Good Friday , made magic on the mountain with some of my amazing family!” he wrote. According to Entertainment Tonight, video shared to his Instagram stories showed him riding a motorized scooter around the park, listening to Prince and the Revolution’s “Kiss” from a portable speaker.