"Hawkeye" star Jeremy Renner was aiding stranded car when hurt, shares first photo since accident
RENO — "Hawkeye" star Jeremy Renner was assisting a stranded motorist when he was injured over the weekend in a snowplow accident in the mountains on the edge of Reno.
Renner's recovery comes after he was run over by his own 14,000-pound snowplow in a freak accident on New Year's Day.
Despite the severity of his injuries a spokesperson described as blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries, his sister Kym sent a text to CBS13 Wednesday night, reading:
"We are so thrilled with his progress. If anyone knows Jeremy, he is a fighter and doesn't mess around. He is crushing all the progress goals. We couldn't feel more positive about the road ahead."
The accident left Renner in critical but stable condition.
Renner, a Modesto native, shared his first photo on social media Tuesday since the accident. In the post's caption, he said, "Thank you all for your kind words. 🙏. Im (sic) too messed up now to type. But I send love to you all."
Some of the actor's earlier Instagram posts show the heavy snow equipment he uses to plow roads near his Lake Tahoe area home.
The Washoe County sheriff said the accident happened when Renner had finished towing a family member's vehicle, got out of his snowplow, called a pisten bully, and it started to roll. He tried climbing back in and was run over.
The sheriff's office said in a statement Sunday that deputies responded to a report of a traumatic injury in the area of the Mt. Rose Highway at about 9 a.m. Sunday before Renner was flown by helicopter to a local hospital. A powerful winter storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow on the area Saturday night into Sunday morning.
"At this point in the investigation we do not believe Mister Renner was impaired, at all, and we believe this is a tragic accident," Sheriff Darin Balaam said.
Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District Chief Charles Moore is a friend of Renner's and his firefighters were among the first responders to the scene.
Renner has worked with the fire district on creating defensible space in the area and even donated an ambulance to them.
"I think if he wasn't an actor, he'd be a firefighter, no doubt," Chief Moore said.
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 2009′s "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."
