By India McCarty
Jeremy Renner says he “died” during the 2023 Snowcat accident that left him with 38 broken bones.
“As I lay on the ice, my heart rate slowed, and right there, on that New Year’s Day, unknown to my daughter, my sisters, my friends, my father, my mother, I just got tired,” Renner wrote in his memoir, My Next Breath.
He continued, “After about thirty minutes on the ice of breathing manually for so long, an effort akin to doing ten or twenty push-ups per minute for half an hour…that’s when I died. I died, right there on the driveway to my house.”
Renner was run over by the snowplow after saving his nephew from being pinned by the vehicle. The AVENGERS actor explained that by the time EMTs arrived on scene, his heart rate “had bottomed out at 18, and at 18 beats per minute, you’re basically dead.”
“When I died, what I felt was energy, a constantly connected, beautiful and fantastic energy,” he wrote. “There was no time, place, or space, and nothing to see, except a kind of electric, two-way vision made from strands of that inconceivable energy.”
Renner continued, “What came to me on that ice was an exhilarating peace, the most profound adrenaline rush, yet an entirely tranquil one at the same time: electric serenity. I can still feel that space, silent, still, empty, but filled with every instant and all the forevers and, for the first time ever, my existence has nothing to do with time. It was an entirely beautiful place, filled with a knowable magic.”
In an interview with PEOPLE, the actor shared that writing about the accident “has been very emotionally cathartic,” adding, “I don’t not talk about it. It’s part of my life every day, and it’s always a wonderful reminder of the strength of the human spirit.”
“I’m not haunted by the incident — not too often anyway — by the images, the sounds,” he continued. “But I am reminded of my new reality, and it’s wonderfully positive. I didn’t die.”
During a recent appearance on JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!, Renner revealed he has even gotten back on the Snowcat that ran him over.
Related: Jeremy Renner Doesn’t Want to ‘Squander’ Life After Snow Plow Accident: ‘Give Back’
“I didn’t want this thing to haunt me or own me by any means,” he explained. “I just kind of wink and like, ‘Ha, I made it. You can’t beat me.” And I just kind of walk away. It’s kind of like breaking up with your girlfriend you hadn’t seen in a while, and you get back together. And you’re like, ‘Yeah, you ain’t that good looking.’”
Despite the extensive injuries Renner’s 2023 accident left him with, the actor isn’t dwelling on the past, preferring to focus on the positives in his life.
Read Next: Jeremy Renner a ‘Walking’ Miracle: ‘Hope is a Powerful Ally’
- Content: +3Share:
- Content: +1