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"I'm writing down notes in my phone — my last words to my family," Renner recalled before tearing up and reading his final words
Jeremy Renner had one request in the hospital in case his snow plow injuries ended up being fatal.
While speaking with Diane Sawyer for his "Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview — A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph" special, the 52-year-old "Hawkeye" star revealed what could have been his last words to his family.
"I'm writing down notes in my phone — my last words to my family," Renner recalled before tearing up and reading his final words. "'Don't let me live on tubes, on a machine. And if my existence is going to be on drugs and painkillers, just let me go now.'"
According to the Washoe County Sheriff's Department, on January 1, the "Avengers" star was airlifted to a nearby hospital after he was injured clearing snowfall following a severe storm at his home in the Mt. Rose Highway area. While exiting the snowplow, the actor discovered the emergency brake system hadn't been applied properly and began to slide towards his nephew who was in the line of direct impact. In an effort to save him, Renner attempted to step up on the track of the plow in order to stop or divert its path.
Elsewhere in his interview, the actor revealed that his 2009 "Hurt Locker" co-star and fellow “Avenger" Anthony Mackie "was there at my bedside" as he recovered from his extensive injuries.
When Sawyer asked Renner about "the best thing anyone said to you" following his accident, the Oscar nominee said "it's the actions" that meant more to him than words.
"Mackie was there at my bedside in Reno," he explained while the special highlighted the well wishes he received from his fellow MCU actors.
Among them was Evangeline Lilly, 43, who revealed she was blown away by his recovery after visiting him in his home in an interview with Access Hollywood back in February.
"I walked in his house and got chicken skin because I was like, 'Why are you mobile? Why are you mobile? What's happening?'" the "Antman" star recalled. "I expected to sit at his bedside and hold his hand while he moaned and groaned in pain and wasn’t able to move. He was wheeling himself around, laughing with his friends."
She continued, "It's a miracle. It's a straight up miracle. He's made of something really tough that guy. You've always been able to see that in him and he is recovering incredibly."
Lily then recounted how Renner described his "intense" near death experience and how he was awake to experience every moment of this accident.
"I'm still having moments where some of the stuff he told me that he experienced and retelling me the story of what went on and the things he could hear and the things that he could see," she said.
