RENO, Nev. — Actor Jeremy Renner was run over by his own 14,000-pound snowplow while he was trying to help a family member stuck on the road after a heavy winter storm in the mountains near Reno, officials said Tuesday.
The 51-year-old “Avengers” star was severely injured in the accident, suffering blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries, and remains in intensive care after undergoing surgery.
He spoke out for the first time on Tuesday afternoon.
Renner posted a hospital-bed photo to Instagram with the caption:
“Thank you all for your kind words. Im too messed up now to type. But I send love to you all.”
Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said there was no indication that Renner was impaired during the incident, which he called a “tragic accident.” Investigators are examining the snowplow to see if it experienced any mechanical failure at the time.
Jeremy Renner out of surgery after suffering chest trauma, orthopedic injuries in snowplow accident
Balaam detailed what investigators have learned so far:
The accident happened on New Year’s Day, the morning after the Reno area saw as much as three feet of snow fall in the mountains.
A family member of Renner was driving the actor’s personal vehicle Sunday morning and became stuck in the snow on a road near his home.
The roads in that neighborhood are private and not cleared by the county. More than a dozen cars had been abandoned on the road when they could not move through the snow.
Renner got his personal PistenBully snowcat to clear the road and get the vehicle moving. After towing the vehicle, he got out of the plow to speak with his family member and the snowplow started rolling forward, Balaam said.
Renner tried to jump back into the cab to stop the plow, but instead ended up getting run over. The PistenBully – which weighs 14,330 pounds – didn’t stop moving until it came to rest in a pile of snow.
A witness called 911 at 8:55 a.m.
Balaam said because of the weather and road conditions – including the abandoned cars blocking the road – emergency first responders weren’t able to reach the scene until 9:30 a.m. A helicopter landed in the area a short time later and Renner was flown to a nearby hospital by 9:56 a.m.
Renner is well-known in the Reno community and has been involved in a number of charitable causes, local officials say.
“He is always helping others,” Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve told the Reno Gazette-Journal Monday night.
Schieve said she and the actor are friends and that she was called about the accident shortly after it happened Sunday morning near the Mt. Rose Highway that connects Reno to Lake Tahoe.
Balaam said Renner is an honorary deputy sheriff and often participates in the department’s “shop with a sheriff” program which helps children in the area.
“They know exactly who he is and they call him Hawkeye,” the sheriff said about the kids. “They are super-excited.”
He also often helps plow roads for his neighbors in the area, he added.
Jeremy Renner poses for photographers upon arrival at the UK Fan Screening of the film ‘Hawkeye’ in London Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021.
Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
Renner plays Hawkeye, a sharp-shooting member of the superhero Avengers squad in Marvel’s sprawling movie and television universe.
He is a two-time acting Oscar nominee, scoring back-to-back nods for “The Hurt Locker” and “The Town.” Renner’s portrayal of a bomb disposal specialist in Iraq in 2009s “The Hurt Locker” helped turn him into a household name.
“The Avengers” in 2012 cemented him as part of Marvel’s grand storytelling ambitions, with his character appearing in several sequels and getting its own Disney+ series, “Hawkeye.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of Marvel Studios and this station.
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