Jeremy Renner experienced such “exhilarating peace” while hovering between life and death after his 2023 snowplow accident that he didn’t want to be brought back.
The Mayor of Kingstown actor has often discussed the experience in interviews since his recovery, but on the May 20 episode of Kelly Ripa’s podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera, Renner revealed his disappointment at being revived. The actor was crushed by a 14,000-pound Sno-Cat plow on January 1, 2023, resulting in more than 30 broken bones, a fractured cheekbone and collapsed lung. Renner needed multiple surgeries following the accident, with metal plates now in parts of his face, back and shin. Renner also explores the traumatic experience in his new memoir, My Next Breath.
Around the 25-minute mark of the podcast episode, Renner described his near-death experience as “a great relief.”
“It’s a wonderful, wonderful relief to be removed from your body,” he explained, calling it “the most exhilarating peace you could ever feel.”
“You don’t see anything but what’s in your mind’s eye. Like, you’re the atoms of who you are, the DNA, your spirit. It’s the highest adrenaline rush, but the peace that comes with it… it’s magnificent. It’s so magical.”
But Renner didn’t want to “come back,” and when he did, the actor was “pissed off.”
“I’m like, ‘Oh!’ I came back and saw [my] eyeball and I’m like, Oh shit, I’m back. Saw my legs. I’m like, Yeah, that’s gonna hurt later. I’m like, All right, let me continue to breathe.“
Renner went on to describe life on Earth as “the most remedial version of your spirit’s existence is being on earth,” and clarified that he didn’t “speak” to anyone while he was briefly unconscious.
However, in his memoir, Renner said that he felt an urgency not to “let go” of his life.
“I didn’t fucking die,” he wrote. “So the celebration of New Year becomes a recognition of the depth of the love in our family.”
