Jeremy Renner takes full responsibility for the accident with the snowplow: "It was my mistake"

Jeremy Renner, best known for playing archer Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has taken full responsibility for his snowplow accident that nearly cost him his life on New Year’s Day.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News journalist Diane Sawyer, Renner has opened his heart about how the accident happened. According to what he has recounted, he was driving the snowplow after having used it to dig one of his family’s trucks out of the snow. As the truck began to skid on the ice, Renner worried for the safety of his nephew, who had just disconnected the chains between the truck and the snowplow.

The renowned actor took a foot out of the vehicle to see how his nephew was, but did not apply the handbrake. As a result, he fell from the cab of the snowplow to the ground while the machine continued to skid. “You shouldn’t be out of the vehicle when you drive it, you know what I mean? It’s like driving a car with one foot out,” Renner explained while sitting in a wheelchair during the interview. Yet he did: “But it is what it was. And it’s my mistake, and I’ve paid for it.”

When the actor wanted to jump back into the cabin and be able to stop the snowplow, that’s when he stepped on one of the caterpillars and was run over. The result was disastrous: the accident resulted in more than 30 bone fractures, a collapsed lung and a liver perforation. The neighbors and his nephew found him bloodied, with shortness of breath and a skull fracture. “I was awake at all times. It is exactly what one imagines,” the actor has told about the pain.

“It’s hard to imagine what it feels like, but when you look at the machine and see… I was on asphalt and ice. I wish I was on snow. It’s like someone took your breath away. Too much is going on in the body to feel pain, that’s all. It’s like your soul could be in pain,” Renner told Sawyer.

Once he was transferred to the hospital, he had to undergo numerous interventions from which he is still recovering. Fortunately, he has made great progress and is now able to walk. According to Renner, the support of his entire family has been vital to get out of such a situation. And, although he does not regret having tried to help his nephew, the first thing he did at the hospital was apologize for putting them through a situation like this.