Aurora Starchild
Jeremy Renner just visited the hospital staff who saved his life after a near-fatal accident on New Year’s Day. He told Jimmy Kimmel Live last week that visiting the hospital was on his immediate agenda after he was “kicked out” of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
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Renner’s Rescuers Thought He Wouldn’t Survive the Accident
The Rennervations star was crushed by a 14,000-pound snowplow in the morning of January 1st while trying to rescue his adult nephew. The massive tread ran him over facedown, resulting in about 35 broken bones, multiple punctured organs, and one of his eyeballs coming out of its socket. He was lying in a puddle of blood for about 45 minutes while waiting for emergency personnel to arrive. As he was airlifted, one of his rescuers radioed that he thought Renner was going to die.
“I knew all those guys,” Renner told Kimmel. Renner has worked with the local volunteer firefighter department in the Mount Rose area where his Lake Tahoe house is located. “The guy that … drained my lung so I wouldn’t suffocate — called my other firefighter friends and said, ‘Hey, we did the best we could.’ [He was] saying, I’m dead.”
Jeremy Renner’s Emergency Reno Hospital Experience Made Him Think of a “Haunted House”
Renner was rushed to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, and placed in the ICU. He said to Kimmel that the ICU was under renovation, making it look like a haunted house.
“First of all, look man, they put you on so many drugs. And it was a sort of ‘under construction’ ICU,” Renner explained. “They weren’t done with the ICU area when I got there. So, they put me in like, a janitor’s closet… It had no bathroom in it… the lights are flickering; everyone here is moaning like they’re dying in the ICU. I’m like, this is like a haunted house. And it’s called ICU like, ‘I see you.’”
Over time, Renner realized that he was in rough shape partly because of how his visitors were reacting. He said it felt like he was living through being the corpse in an “open casket.” At one point, his mother read him Stephen King’s Fairy Tale, not to make him feel worse, but apparently because it’s what she had on hand. She thought it would be soothing for her son to hear her voice.
“It’s nice. My mom’s reading me a story like I’m going to bed. Or, going to bed for one last time,” Renner recalled. “But it’s by Stephen King. She’s reading me this bedtime story, the last story I’ll probably ever hear in life.”
Altogether, Something Led Renner to Get Kicked Out of the ICU
The end result of Jeremy Renner’s experience in the ICU in Reno led to him wanting to leave. While we don’t know exactly what happened, he said he was “kicked out” and brought to another facility.
“I’m like, ‘I’m out of here.’ I hate what I’m wearing, it’s gross,” Renner admitted. “I’m going back to this hospital this week to apologize to every one of those nurses. Yes, I’m going to apologize,” Renner said.
As promised, the Hawkeye actor visited the Renown Regional Medical Center to apologize for whatever happened while he was there. He shared the experience on his Instagram stories in a series of photos on Friday.
“I got to revisit the amazing group of people who saved my life,” read one of the captions. He shared a group photo with a dozen staff members and another in a hallway with two staff. A third photo showed Renner outside the hospital in front of the Renown sign, standing with four staff members. “Thank you,” read the caption.
Renner was using his cane to get around the hospital, which is how he has been making public appearances lately. He has also relied on various electric scooters, some for standing and some for sitting, to get out and about.
The Reno Hospital Visit Marks One of Several Recent Public Appearances After the Snowplow Accident
Last week’s Jimmy Kimmel Live episode marked Renner’s first talk show appearance since the accident. Shortly after, he attended the Disney+ Rennervations premiere in Los Angeles and stayed afterwards for the Q&A. The four-part reality series documents how Jeremy Renner and a teamwork to renovate old, large vehicles that the actor has been collecting on his property. Once renovated, they are donated to various charitable causes.
“I’m overflowing with gratitude and excitement unlike [anything] I’ve felt in a very, very long time, you know?” Renner told People at the premiere. “Because it’s not a movie that I’m promoting, It’s not a show, it’s my, it’s my life, man, this is what I do.”
Renner told Variety that the show was a big motivator for his recovery. “I look a little beat up right now, but I promise you this show is what’s propelling me to get better and makes me want to get better every day,” he said. “I set out a goal to be walking this carpet. And here I am enjoying it.”
Renner isn’t afraid to express gratitude, which is apparent in how he was willing to return to Renown Hospital in Reno and make amends. He’s also attributed his healing to his 10-year-old daughter, Ava, as well as an extensive support system of friends and family.
