Jeremy Renner said he won’t settle for being “haunted” by the New Year’s Day snowplow accident that left him with 30-plus broken bones and nearly killed him.
“I shift the narrative of being victimized, or making a mistake, or anything else,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe star said during an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer on Thursday. “I refuse to be fucking haunted by that memory, that way.”
Renner was pulled under the tread of his massive PistenBully snow groomer after it rolled toward his nephew. He’s been open about his rehab, sharing clips of him walking on a treadmill and electric stimulation for his right leg. He stood with a walker during parts of his interview with Sawyer.
Renner’s nephew, Alex Fries, told Sawyer that he called for his uncle to keep breathing following the accident.
“I stood over him in a crouched position holding his arm for the entire time,” Fries said.
Renner said he told his family “I’m sorry” in American Sign Language following the accident.
His sister, Kym Renner, told Sawyer that she’s “amazed” by his recovery.
“It’s just being stubborn as shit,” she said. “The guy is so stubborn, he’s not going to let anything take him down.”
Renner called his family’s support “real love.”
“This is what I talk to my family about, from all their perspectives, which are horrifying, that I put upon them,” he said. “What we just endured, that’s real love, suffering, that feeds the seeds of what love is.”
Renner is scheduled to appear at the world premiere of his Disney+ show “Rennervations” on Tuesday, Variety reported last week.