Aurora Starchild
Jeremy Renner is defeating all odds while recovering from a near-death experience that left his entire body shattered. The 52-year-old Avengers actor was crushed by a 14,000 + pound snowplow on New Year’s Day while trying to help his nephew. Four months later, he’s regaining mobility and keeping his spirits high, and it’s all thanks to his daughter, Ava.
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Jeremy Renner’s Physician Credits Actor’s 10-Year-Old Daughter for His Recovery
“I’ve seen so many people with injuries way less [severe] than Jeremy had, and they just give up,” Dr. Christopher Vincent told People. Vincent is a chiropractic sports physician who has worked with Renner since 2011. After the tragic accident, Renner’s sister Kym asked Vincent to help transform the actor’s house “into a full rehab center.”
Vincent added that Ava, 10, is “one of [Renner’s] strongest motivators… You really reflect on life when something like this happens. It’s like, ‘Okay, what’s important?'”
Jeremy Renner shares his only child, Ava, with his ex-wife and actress Sonni Pacheco. The two married in January of 2014 and divorced in December of 2015. The Hawkeye actor celebrated Ava’s tenth birthday last month on his Instagram stories while keeping her face covered by an emoji.
“Happy 10th Birthday to you!!!! So very proud of you in every way. Your hugs and your love, have healed me so incredibly fast,” Renner wrote alongside of photo of him and Ava. “I stand up for you, and I am stronger than before because of you. I am your Father, I am your protector, and I am only yours. I love you, Daddy.”
Renner Almost Died After Horrific January 1st Snowplow Accident Near Tahoe
Renner spoke out via a written Instagram post just two days after his snowplow accident but was in critical condition. The post mentioned that he himself couldn’t even text.
The accident that occurred at his home near Lake Tahoe left him with “blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries” and more than 30 broken bones. He had fallen face-down under the moving PistenBully snowcat’s tracks, resulting in one of his eyes coming out of its socket. Vincent told People that the actor was rendered “completely non-weight bearing” and “had fractures on every limb” afterward.
Renner’s Daughter Ava Told Him She Was Scared and She Loved Him When He Was in the Hospital
Renner was unable to speak after the accident, recently revealing on a Diane Sawyer interview that he had to use sign language to say “sorry” to his family. He recalled that Ava was scared when she visited him in the hospital. “She didn’t have to say anything,” he said. “She said she’s scared. She said she loved me.”
At the time, Renner didn’t know if he was going to live. He’d told his family to not “let me live on tubes on a machine… If my existence is going to be on drugs and painkillers, let me go now,” he recalled to Sawyer.
But he instead “chose to survive.”
Friends and Family Are Living with Renner to Help Him as He Recovers
Jeremy Renner’s family and friends have since stepped in to help him with everyday necessities and staying positive. That includes Rennervations executive producer Rory Millikin and Renner’s mother Valerie Cearly, who both have been living with Renner during his recovery. Rennervations is a Disney+ reality show that premieres on April 11. Renner has been scheduled to make his first public appearance and partake in a Q&A panel for the premiere.
“You should see this house. It’s overflowing,” Millikin told People. “My job is to create some laughter and joy. And cook badly,” he said, adding that Kym has been “quarterbacking everything” while Renner focuses on physical therapy.
“He uses humor to stay positive and keep himself healthy,” Vincent said. “That helps so much.”
Renner was also fortunate enough to be given a special treadmill designed for NASA astronauts. It assists with reducing gravity force, essentially allowing Renner to regain muscle and mobility without using his full weight.
“We use this incredible treadmill called the Boost Treadmill, which was developed by a dad and his son. The dad worked for NASA to help astronauts reintegrate on Earth’s gravity,” Vincent explained. “They gave us a treadmill, which was incredible… We can have him exercising at 20 percent of his body weight.”
Renner Has Been Using Mechanized Scooters to Get Out and About with Daughter Ava
The actor’s recovery so far has been described as a “miracle” by his close friends.
“He was wheeling himself around, laughing with his friends. It’s a miracle. It’s a straight-up miracle,” said his friend Evangeline Lilly, who visited Renner at his home a month ago.
Thanks to his daughter Ava, Renner has also made strides towards getting out and about in the world to spend time with her. Renner shared an Instagram update of a visit to Six Flags earlier this month while he utilized a mechanized scooter designed for disabled people. One week later, paparazzi spotted the father-daughter duo hanging out at his LA mansion. Renner was smiling and using a motorized scooter while Ava seemed “less than thrilled by the media attention,” according to Daily Mail.
While Renner has made incredible progress toward healing, Vincent told People that he’s still only about “an eighth of the way there.”
“We’ve only scratched the surface on the amount of work he’s got left. Once the bones all heal, then we can really start to fire up the muscles, we really see what joints are damaged and what nerves are really damaged. We have to build back the strength,” he said.
But Vincent has full confidence that Renner is going to be fully recovered in time.
“I 100 percent believe he’ll be better than he was before,” he said.
