Hollywood star Jeremy Renner has reflected on the “tiny but monumental” mistake that led to the devastating snowplow accident that nearly cost him his life.
The A-list actor recently shared new details about the tragic incident, which occurred on New Year’s Day 2023. Renner was pulled beneath the snowplow outside his Lake Tahoe home while heroically attempting to save his nephew, Alexander Fries, according to the Daily Mail.
Renner was inside the cab of his massive 14,000-pound snowcat when he realized his nephew was in danger. Acting quickly, he leapt out in a desperate attempt to save him.
“I didn’t engage the parking brake or disengage the steel tracks,’ 54-year-old Renner revealed in his upcoming memoir chronicling the near-fatal accident. In that moment — an innocent, critical, life-changing moment — that tiny but monumental slip of the mind would change the course of my life forever.”
Gage Skidmore“My feet lost their grip on the moving tracks, and I never made it to the cab. I lurched violently forward, out of control,” he wrote per Daily Mail.
“In that split second I was catapulted off the spinning metal tracks, arms flailing. I arced over the front of the tracks, propelled forward, down onto the hard-packed ice, where my head hit the ground hard and instantly gashed open. There came terrible crunching sounds as 14,000lb of galvanized steel machinery slowly, inexorably, monotonously, ground over my body. It was a horrifying soundtrack.”
Jeremy Renner endured severe injuries in the snowplow accident, suffering 38 broken bones, a collapsed lung, and a pierced liver caused by a broken rib. His nephew, Alexander Fries, was able to provide critical aid until emergency responders arrived. Renner was then airlifted to the hospital, where he spent more than two weeks undergoing multiple surgeries.
Against the odds, Renner has since made a remarkable recovery and returned to work, recently filming Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third installment in the Knives Out series.
Earlier reports detailed how the accident unfolded: as the massive snow plow began barreling toward his nephew, Renner attempted to jump back into the moving vehicle to regain control. In the process, he was pulled underneath and crushed by the 14,000-pound machine.
Despite the grueling recovery that followed, Renner expressed that he would willingly endure the ordeal again if it meant saving his nephew. Reflecting on the experience, Renner described the toll it took on his body, losing significant amounts of flesh and bone, but emphasized how he found strength through love, support, and the titanium used to rebuild parts of his body.
Jeremy Renner, born on January 7, 1971, in Modesto, California, is an acclaimed American actor and musician. He began his career in independent films like Dahmer (2002) and gained widespread recognition with his Academy Award-nominated performances in The Hurt Locker (2009) and The Town (2010). Renner is widely known for portraying Clint Barton/Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as roles in Mission: Impossible, The Bourne Legacy, and Arrival.
Renner explained to PEOPLE he also found healing through writing his upcoming memoir. The book is set to be released on April 29.
