Jeremy Renner’s doctor has said the actor is lucky to be alive after he was just millimetres away from a major nerve or a vital organ being hit in his snowplow accident.
The Hollywood star was rushed to hospital on New Year’s Day after he was crushed by the Sno-Cat vehicle while trying to help his nephew.
Renner suffered numerous broken bones and a collapsed lung in the accident and is still recovering from his injuries.
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Speaking during a recent interview, Renner said he would have died had he not been treated so quickly.
"If I had been alone, that would have been a horrible way to die," Renner said. "And surely I would have. Surely.
"But I wasn't alone. [I was with] my nephew. Sweet Alex. And the rest of the calvary came."
Opening up about the accident, he explained: “It’s hard to imagine what that feels like, but when you look at the machine and you look at...
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"I was on asphalt and ice. I wish I was on snow. It felt like someone took the wind out of you.
"Too many things are going on in the body to feel pain, it’s everything. It’s like if your soul could have pain."
Renner's nephew admitted he thought his uncle was dead after he went under the snowplow, recalling how he could see him 'in a pool of blood coming from his head'.
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"I ran up to him, I didn't think he was alive," he said.
Now, one of the doctors who helped treat the 52-year-old has revealed how close he came to death, saying it was a matter of mere millimetres.
Dr Christopher Vincent, a chiropractic sports physician, told CNN the snowplough came ‘within millimetres of hitting a vital organ or major nerve’.
He went on: “As unlucky as he is to have such a tragic injury, he is so lucky that the injuries are where they are.”
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Commenting on his progress, the doctor added: “He’s pushing through it and really has the determination to not only heal but come back stronger and better than he was before.”
In an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer last week, Renner said that while he was in hospital he was 'writing down notes in my phone' with the intention of penning some 'last words to my family'.
Reflecting on his strength and progress after being crushed by the machine, Renner said: "I chose to survive. You can't kill me. No way."
Topics: Celebrity, US News, Jeremy Renner
Claire Reid