What Jeremy Renner Told Family When He Regained Consciousness After Accident: 'I Signed That I Was Sorry'

"Seemed like a weird thing to say, but that was the driving energy of me waking in the first place," the actor said in his new 'Men's Health' cover story

Jeremy Renner is looking back on his first conscious moments with his loved ones following his near-fatal snowplow accident in January 2023.

In a newly published Men's Health cover story for the magazine's July/August 2024 issue, the Mayor of Kingstown actor recalled, "When I got conscious, my family was there, squeezing my toes and s---. I woke up and they’re all at the foot of the bed, and I signed that I was sorry."

Renner, 53, said he then asked for a pencil while "fully intubated" with a "giant hose" in him, and that he managed to write, " 'Holy f---. I’m so sorry. I love you all so much.' "

"Seemed like a weird thing to say, but that was the driving energy of me waking in the first place," the Avengers star added.

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Related: Jeremy Renner Shares What Last Words to Family Would've Been in Note: 'Don't Let Me Live on Tubes'

Following the accident, "everything was a disaster," Renner told Men's Health, including showering and using the restroom.

"They give you medications so you don’t go to the bathroom, so you get constipated," he recalled.
"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. It took me 17 minutes to get out of bed."

The Hurt Locker star said that at the time, he "was happy to sometimes sit up and push myself into a chair and move a little bit."

"But a shower — everything took like half a day," Renner lamented. "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 f---ing risk infection. So I had sponge baths.”

Related: Jeremy Renner Reveals Moving Message He Told Daughter Ava, 11, After Near-Fatal Snowplow Accident

The Hawkeye actor is thankful for his family, which is vast given that he is the oldest of seven children with a large extended brood.

"I can say I’m f---in’ sorry, and they know what I mean. They’re just as gangster for me as I would be for them," he told the magazine, joking, "They’ll murder people for me, my family."

And the love and protection goes both ways, as Renner's accident occurred as a result of him jumping into action to save his nephew.

"I’m not letting anybody get hurt on my watch. That’s why I put my f---in' own life on the line for my nephew," the actor told Men's Health. "I’m not gonna let that thing f---ing crush him! ... I couldn’t live with that. If it was the other way around, if I didn’t get back on that thing and then it crushed him? I would not be a good man right now. ... I’d be f---ing haunted. Can you imagine?"

"But also, I didn’t do it knowing I’d get hurt, man," Renner admitted. "I figured, 'No problem, I got this. I’ll just dive across these tracks, shut off a button, piece of cake!' "

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