Jeremy Renner Recalls Snowplow Accident And Its Aftermath: 'I Remember My Head Cracking'

The 'Avengers' actor said his cheekbone and eye socket broke, and his 'eye bulged out'. "I could see my left eyeball with my right eyeball. I was screaming for a breath."

Jeremy Renner, an A-list actor in Hollywood who has worked in numerous movies and has been a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) star, had a freak accident last year when he got crushed by a snowplow. The near-fatal accident made global news with several of his contemporaries expressing shock. It has taken the actor a long time to recover, almost a year -- learning to do the basics again, like walking and even breathing -- and he has now looked back on his painful journey, sharing details about that fateful night and what all he had to endure.

In an interview with Men's Health magazine, the 53-year-old said he had been clearing the snow from the driveway on New Year's Day last year, with his nephew when the accident happened. The snowplow suddenly rolled forward towards his nephew, who was standing in front of it. In order to save him, Renner apparently rushed to shut it down, but his 'foot got caught' and the 'massive treads pulled his body under the machine's weight'. It changed his life forever.

The 'Avengers' actor recalled the excruciating moments after the accident, telling the outlet for its July/August issue, "It undulates, because there's four sections of tires with these metal tracks -- it pulls it like a tank. I remember every undulation. I remember my head cracking on the thing and it just pressing on me -- it's exactly like you think it would feel. An immovable object and a crushing force... But thank God my skull didn't fully give. And then it kept going. Undulate, undulate, undulate, undulate."

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The 'Hawkeye' star also said that his cheekbone and eye socket broke, and his 'eye bulged out'. "I could see my left eyeball with my right eyeball. I was screaming for a breath. I needed to shove all my energy of air out just so I could suck air back in. There was no breathing happening. It was a muscle I had to use to press, and it's hard to use your stomach muscles when you have 14 broken ribs and a popped lung," he was quoted as saying.

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While struggling to breathe and stay alive, Renner also mentally went through a checklist of his body, wondering where all he got hurt and how serious were his injuries. He even wondered if his 'breathing trouble is just a cramp', while waiting for the medical team to arrive.

The actor spent the following 12 days in the ICU, most of which were spent in a blur. "Showering, going to the bathroom -- everything was a disaster. They give you medications so you don't go to the bathroom, so you get constipated. And you pee in a jar. It was awful. That's when you know things aren't going great -- you're peeing in a plastic jug," the actor told the publication, adding that he would take 17 minutes to even get out of bed.

He could not risk getting an infection, so he avoided proper baths. "I couldn't get stuff wet. Your hair gets super greasy and gross and you stink, but I had all these staples I couldn't wet, and I wasn't going to risk infection. So I had sponge baths."

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This freak accident left Renner -- who has acted in acclaimed movies like 'American Hustle' and 'The Hurt Locker' with more than 38 broken bones, including ribs, pelvis, right knee, right ankle, left leg, left ankle, right clavicle, right shoulder blade, face, wrist, toes, and hand.

His takeaway from this life lesson has been a Buddhist mantra: "The only thing we can control in our lives is our perspective." The actor is grateful to simply be alive today.