‘I chose to survive’

Jeremy Renner tells all in first interview after snowplow accident

Jeremy Renner is ready to talk about the snowplow accident that landed him in the hospital with severe injuries earlier this year.

The Marvel action hero recently sat down with Diane Sawyer of ABC News for his first interview since he was crushed by his snowplow near his Lake Tahoe-area home on New Year’s Day. ABC News on Wednesday released a dramatic trailer for “Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph.”

“I chose to survive,” Renner declares in the preview. “You can’t kill me. No way.”

The hourlong TV special will also feature commentary from Renner’s family members, including the adult nephew who witnessed the accident.

Renner was using his 14,000pound PistenBully snowplow to pull his truck – being driven by his nephew – out of the snow. At one point, the Hawkeye star exited the vehicle without setting the emergency parking brake. When the snowplow began rolling toward his nephew, Renner attempted to jump back inside to stop it and was promptly pulled under one of the tracks.

“I perfectly see him in a pool of blood coming from his head,” Renner’s nephew tells Sawyer in the trailer. “I didn’t think he was alive.”

While speaking with Sawyer, the two-time Oscar nominee confirmed that his right knee, left leg, left ankle, right clavicle and jaw were all broken in the accident. The snowplow also shattered his ribs in 14 places, collapsed his lung and pierced his liver.

After the accident, Renner said, he wondered, “What’s my body look like? Am I just gonna be a spine and a brain like a science experiment?” Now, when he looks in the mirror, he sees “a lucky man.”

Asked by Sawyer if he remembered the immediate pain, Renner replied, “Oh, all of it. I was awake through every moment.” The Hurt Locker actor added that he would “do it again” if given the chance.

“Yeah, I’d do it again,” he repeated to a stunned Sawyer. “Because it’s going right at my nephew.”

“Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph” premieres April 6 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC and will be available to stream the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.