Aurora Starchild
Jeremy Renner is back! The Hawkeye actor just danced with a cane on Jimmy Kimmel Live as the audience exploded in applause. It was his first talk show appearance since his terrifying snowplow accident on New Year’s Day.
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Watch Jeremy Renner Dance with a Cane as He Appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live
“Our first guest tonight is a two-time Oscar-nominated actor and Avenger who beat Thanos, Loki, and a 14,000-pound snowplow,” Kimmel said in the introduction. “Please welcome the indestructible Jeremy Renner.”
As the doors opened, Renner came walking out with a gigantic smile on his face. Holding a cane in his right hand, it was clear that he was struggling a bit, but his positivity was contagious. Renner smiled and waved, gave some hugs, and showed off his rhythm as he walked towards the chair. By the time he sat down, it was easy to forget for a second that he’d just been utterly crushed by a 7-ton machine a few months ago.
“Now if there was any question as to who the toughest Avenger was, that’s settled now, right?” Kimmel joked.
“Scarlett Johansson, yes,” said Renner.
“I think I speak for all of us when I say ‘Thank God, look at you. You look great. We’re glad to see you here,’” said Kimmel.
Jeremy Renner Gave a List of His Injuries
The conversation cut right to the chase, which although we’ve been hearing about it, we all want to know more about the accident from the guy directly involved. Renner had woken up his 27-year-old nephew Alex on New Year’s Day to help him plow the snow from his mountain property, which is located between Reno and Lake Tahoe. They tried to move his nephew’s car, and then the massive 14,000-pound machine started to slide on the ice — towards his nephew.
“I tried to jump back on it to stop it from running him over. And then I got eaten up under the tracks,” Renner explained. “It was a very, very bad way to start the year.”
The actor started listing off his injuries, which included “35 or so” broken bones.
“We kept discovering them as they were going along because they were going in critical order of priority,” said Renner. “You know, what am I going to die from or not. Six weeks later, finding another break, and another break… I got lucky in a lot of ways so, I’m happy to be here.”
“It’s like a giant metal cookie roller,” Renner explained. “It missed every vertebrae, didn’t hit any organs. My brain didn’t swell, nothing like that. Now, my eye did pop out. That’s weird… It pierced my liver but that wasn’t dangerous.”
“Collapsed lung,” Kimmel added.
“Yeah, that’s fine. I got another one,” Renner joked stoically.
Renner Later Learned That His Rescuers Thought He Was Going to Die
He continued to recall that he was on the ground waiting for an ambulance for about 45 minutes. In that time, he found himself contemplating what everyone else’s perspective was, starting with Alex, who was watching his uncle lie in a puddle of blood. Once he was air lifted in a helicopter, emergency personnel opened one of his lungs with a knife to drain the fluid and prevent him from suffocating. That’s when things went blurry.
“I knew all those guys,” Renner continued, speaking about the local fire department. He’d worked with them on occasion in the past and was known throughout the community for various volunteer work.
“The guy that did 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,” Renner said. “So, all these different perspectives that happened, I was learning over the last few months… So many people thought I was dead, or I was going to die.”
The First Hospital Renner Was Brought to Was Like a “Haunted House”
Renner had to undergo multiple surgeries right away and spent time in two different hospitals. It turns out that he was kicked out of the first ICU, partly because he was terrified. It’s not clear what exactly happened, but he said he was going to go back this week to apologize to all of the staff.
“First of all, look man, they put you on so many drugs. And it was a sort of ‘under construction’ ICU. They weren’t done with the ICU area when I got there. So, they put me in like, a janitor’s closet. Like, it’s a VIP thing but it’s like ‘janitor.’ It had no bathroom in it, and it’s like… 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,’” Renner added in the creepiest voice possible.
“It was like a creepy haunted house. I’m like, I want out of this place.”
Then His Mom Read Him a Stephen King Book: “The Last Story I’ll Probably Ever Hear”
It got worse. Renner’s mother wanted to soothe her son and decided to read him a book.
“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. “And she starts reading to me and I’m overhearing like, ‘Mom, that’s Stephen King.’ It’s a fairytale — it’s called Fairy Tale. But it’s by Stephen King. She’s reading me this bedtime story, the last story I’ll probably ever hear in life.”
Renner Said He Felt Like He Was in an Open Casket
The full realization of the extent of his physical trauma started to sink in once Renner’s friends started visiting him.
“It was like, everybody’s acting like it’s an open casket and you’re living through it,” Renner admitted. “Everybody’s walking by like, ‘Ughhh. Yeah.’ They were giving me a reaction like they didn’t know what to say. I talked to Chris Evans, I talked to a lot of friends and their reaction is what made me feel like, ‘Oh, I think I really hurt myself. I might not pull out of this.’… Terrible actors. They couldn’t hide the fact that I looked awful.”
“Suckers,” Renner joked.
Despite the doubt, Renner’s recovery so far is nothing short of inspiring. Much of that is thanks to his daughter, Ava, who has inspired him to heal, and the dedication and support of his family. Renner has been spending hours every day doing physical therapy and, although there is still much to do, is expected to be back at 100% in time.
