Marvel star Jeremy Renner speaks of “fight for life” one year after snowplow accident

Jeremy Renner said knowing there is “a lot worth fighting for” helped him recover from a devastating snowplow accident a year ago.

Renner, 52, a star of the Marvel films, was in critical condition after breaking more than 30 bones.

On New Year’s Day 2022, he was accidentally run over by his own snow plow.

He told CNN: “I’m just so blessed that I have so many things to live for. I have a huge family, a 10-year-old daughter.”

The only option he gave himself was to “get healthy.”

“I would have disappointed a lot of people and really ruined their lives if I had turned them down,” said the actor, who plays Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“I’m also pretty stubborn, there’s a lot for me to fight for and recovery has been a one-way street in my mind and recovery.”

The accident occurred after a New Year’s storm hit the United States, dumping heavy snow in several states.

Renner used his snow plow to rescue his nephew, who was driving and got stuck in the snow near his house.

He managed to tow the car free, but when he got out, the plow began to move unattended, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said at the time.

Renner was trying to get back into the driver’s seat to stop the vehicle when the “extremely large” device ran over him, Mr Balaam added.

The actor was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Reno, Nevada, and spent some time in intensive care.

He told CNN about the trauma of his “poor nephew” who had to watch him get run over, saying: “You know, I gave him images that he will never forget.”

But he added: “I know that my healing will be healing for him too,” as well as for other people around him who were affected by the accident, such as his daughter.

He said he “never thought about my own physical ailments or my own pain or my own agony – so the one-way path to recovery was like a mental attitude.”

“And that attitude has always been to get better. And there is no other option than that.”