Jeremy Renner tells Jimmy Kimmel snow plow ‘just missed every vertebrae’ in near-fatal accident

Jeremy Renner says he ‘got lucky in a lot of ways’ in surviving a ghastly New Year’s Day snow plow accident.

The Marvel star, 52, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday, less than four months after he nearly died in a New Year’s Day snow plow accident that left him with more than 35  broken bones. 

‘We kept discovering them, because they went from critical order of priority of one of my going to die for them or not?’ the Modesto, California born actor. ‘Another break, another break.’

The Hawkeye star emerged with a cane in good spirits for the late night appearance, in which he said he was ‘happy to be here.’

The Academy Award-nominated star described the mechanics of the snow plow accident, noting how lucky he was that critical parts of his anatomy were spared as he was caught under the weight of the machine.

‘It’s like a giant metal – like cookie roller, right?’ he said. ‘And it just missed every vertebrae, did not hit any organs, membrane did not swell – my eye did pop out, that’s weird. But I got pretty lucky that none of the organs got messed up.’

Renner has been open about his recovery – which could potentially last for years – in the wake of the horrifying January 1 accident. 

More than 30 bones in Renner’s body were broken in the January 1 accident that left him in ‘critical condition’ at first, ahead of multiple surgical procedures.

He was making a valiant attempt at protecting his nephew Alex from harm at the time of the incident, and said his initial thoughts were about his nephew’s trauma witnessing the harrowing ordeal.

Renner said, ‘I had to think about Alex’s, because he was there during the entire time and he had to his uncle Jeremy on the ground – I did not see any of this stuff, but the blood and the thing  and the eye, and all that stuff right? I had to see what his perspective was.’ 

Renner said he continued to take into account the feelings of his loved ones amid his critical health ordeal.

‘It’s pretty harrowing to take the time to really consider somebody else’s perspective,’ Renner said.

Kimmel shared an image of the A-list actor as he was hospitalized in critical condition in the wake of the accident. Renner said that it was ‘probably’ his mother who took the photo.

The Hawkeye star emerged with a cane in good spirits for the late night appearance, in which he said he was ‘happy to be here’

The venerated actor opened up in-depth about the harrowing incident on the ABC show

The Academy Award-nominated star described the mechanics of the snow plow accident, noting how lucky he was that critical parts of his anatomy were spared as he was caught under the weight of the machine

Renner said of his broken bones, ‘We kept discovering them, because they went from critical order of priority of one of my going to die for them or not?’

Renner’s family was in attendance at the taping, as the actor noted, ‘They’ve been at my side the entire time.’

Renner said that in the wake of the accident, he was on the ground for about 45 minutes, and remembers ‘all of it’ up until he was transported to a nearby hospital.

‘Once I got into the helicopter to [go] the hospital, that’s when they jammed some sort of emergency knife or whatever they do in your chest – I don’t know, that’s when I was like, I got to go to sleep,’ he said.

Renner said he personally knew the local firefighters who were first responders in the incident, and overheard them saying they did the best they could, presuming the accident would be fatal.

‘Yes, some people thought I was dead and was going to die,’ he said. ‘I’m like, “No, man. I’m trying to get out of the hospital as soon as I was in it.” I’m like, “I’m out of here.”‘

Renner told Kimmel he was in two hospitals after he ‘got kicked out of the first one’ as he was unsettled while on heavy medication.

‘I’m going back this week to apologize to everyone of those nurses,’ Renner said. ‘Yes, I’m going to apologize.’

Renner said he was overwhelmed speaking with friends about the accident, as it clued him in to how serious his condition was. 

Kimmel shared an image of the A-list actor as he was hospitalized in critical condition in the wake of the accident 

Renner said he continued to take into account the feelings of his loved ones amid his critical health ordeal

Renner’s family was in attendance at the taping, as the actor noted, ‘They’ve been at my side the entire time’

Renner said that in the wake of the accident, he was on the ground for about 45 minutes, and remembers ‘all of it’ up until he was transported to a nearby hospital 

Renner said that he spoke with famous friends such as Chris Evans ‘and the reaction was what made me feel like I think I really hurt myself, [that] I might not pull out of this’

‘That’s where I found out I think I was really messed up – like I think I really got injured,’ Renner said. ‘It was like, everybody is acting like it’s an open casket and you are living through it. Like everybody is walking by.

‘You are like, whoa – oh, yeah, everybody is giving me a reaction, I didn’t know what to say.’

Renner said that he spoke with famous friends such as Chris Evans ‘and the reaction was what made me feel like I think I really hurt myself, [that] I might not pull out of this.’

He joked, ‘They are terrible actors, they could not hide the fact that I looked awful!’

He noted how his friend Paul Rudd made him a parody Cameo clip to cheer him up after the accident. 

Over the weekend, Renner visited Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California with his family, posing for photos with relatives at the popular amusement park.

Renner captioned a picture on Instagram: ‘Good Friday, made magic on the mountain with some of my amazing family! @sixflagsmagicmountain #thankyou.’

He was seen on the outing to Six Flags with his daughter Ava Berlin, 10. The actor kept a mobility scooter nearby to assist with his trek at the vast theme park.

Renner was smiling as he was pictured making his entrance to film Jimmy Kimmel Live in Hollywood on Monday. The Oscar-nominated actor is just more than three months removed from a neat-fatal snow plow accident that left him with severe injuries

The Marvel star was seen headed into the Hollywood, California studio for Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday as he looked to appear on the late night show

The Hawkeye star was clad in a stylish ensemble of a dark brown suede over a patterned button-down top with black slacks and black dress shoes 

Over the weekend, he visited Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California with his family, posing for photos with relatives at the popular amusement park’

‘It’s spring break, and my daughter turned 10, and she got my niece and nephews and all of her cousins, I had to treat them to a nice time and to the roller coasters,’ Renner told Kimmel of the trip, noting that he went on rides on the outing.

‘I just live by the principle of if it hurts I will stop,’ he said. ‘But if it doesn’t hurt, I’ll try it. So I did everything that didn’t and I had a great time – more importantly my daughter and all the kids did.’

Asked by Kimmel what the best thing to come out of the New Year’s Day situation was, Renner joked that he realized his calendar was freed up for the rest of the year.

He joked, ‘I was start making plans, I was making so many plans. I was going to buy a boat. I was going to live in Mexico. And all of these plans I was going to make, because my year was pretty jammed up until I got crushed, right?’

He added, ‘And then also it was like a New Year’s resolution, I did drop like 20 pounds – I quit smoking. It’s easy! Easiest way to quit smoking! I’m telling you!’

In March, Renner took to social media to share that he had been progressing in his physical recovery from the accident, as he was seen walking on a treadmill on social media.

In addition to his appearance on Kimmel Monday, Renner is slated to walk the red carpet at the debut of his Disney+ show Rennervations on Tuesday.