
Jeremy Renner Relives Near-Death Accident and Miraculous Recovery in Memoir
By Movieguide® Contributor
Jeremy Renner is inviting fans into the horrors of his snowplow accident and what he learned about himself and the human spirit during his recovery in his upcoming memoir.
“This retelling is not merely a gruesome account of what happened to [Renner]; it’s a call to action and a forged companionship between reader and author as Jeremy recounts his recovery journey and reflects on the impact of his suffering,” publisher Macmillan explained.
Renner’s accident occurred on New Year’s Day of 2023, when he stepped in front of a 14,000 pound SnoCat to protect his grown nephew from impact. This heroic action nearly cost Renner his life as he was airlifted to a hospital, sustaining injuries that included 14 broken ribs and crushed cheekbones and eye sockets.
Miraculously, the actor was released from the hospital only two weeks later, though his road to recovery was far from over. In the two years since, among other things, he has had to relearn how to walk while also accepting that his body will never quite be the same after such a traumatic event.
READ MORE: JEREMY RENNER A ‘WALKING’ MIRACLE: ‘HOPE IS A POWERFUL ALLY’
Despite these physical difficulties — not to mention mental obstacles — the actor has been able to return to his craft, though that has been no easy task either.
“I just don’t have the energy for it. I don’t have the fuel,” he told the “Smartless” podcast last June. “I have so much fuel to put into this reality, this body, all this stuff. I can’t just go play make-believe right now. Because that takes a lot of time to get right here every day just so I can have a positive thought, so I can progress, so I can always keep growing.”
No doubt his return to acting will be discussed at length through the book as will the thing that helped him the most throughout his recovery: his daughter.
“The reality of what transpired really set in. What I had done to my daughter, what I actually did to my nephew, to my whole family, that really set in,” Renner previously told Kelly Clarkson. “So I asked her to wait for me: I said, ‘These are just 38 broken bones, darling, and they’re all going to heal. And I promise, if you wait for me, I’ll be better, I’ll be faster, I’ll be stronger than you’ve ever seen before. I promise. You have to wait for me.’”
Renner’s memoir My Next Breath will be available starting April 29.
READ MORE: ‘BLESSED’: JEREMY RENNER REFLECTS ON TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF SNOWPLOW ACCIDENT