Jeremy Renner accident – as it happened: Marvel star recovers in hospital after being crushed by snow plough

Amidst all of the online chatter and confusion about some of the facts of his accident, read Joe Sommerlad’s helpful piece below.

Everything we know about Jeremy Renner’s snow plough accident

Marvel star recovering in Nevada hospital following ‘tragic’ New Year’s incident

During a brief press conference yesterday (3 January), Sheriff Darin Balaam of Washoe County provided a quick timeline of local authorities and medical response to Renner’s accident.

Balaam began: “On Sunday morning at 8:55am, a 911 call was received for a 10-50, or a crash involving a Snowcat versus pedestrian. The subject had been run over by a Snowcat in the area of Mount Rose Highway.”

Elaborating on the weather and road conditions at that hour, Balaam said: “The previous evening, we had seen approximately three feet of snow fall in the Mt Rose area, and multiple cars were abandoned on the multiple roads, including Mt Rose Hwy.

“Additionally, while it was not snowing at the time of the accident, Mt Rose Hwy was closed at that hour because of severe winter weather, of snow which had not yet been removed from the highway.”

Balaam shared that the first Washoe County Sheriff’s unit arrived on-scene at 9:30am, explaining that the “delay was a direct result of the weather, the traffic – moving around abandoned cars in the roadway – and the closure of Mt Rose Hwy”.

He continued: “When the first Washoe County Sheriff’s Office unit arrived on-scene, Truckee’s Meadows Fire Protection District and North Lake Tahoe Protection Fire District were on-scene.

“At 9:37, care flight landed in the vicinity of Mt Rose Hwy,” Balaam added. “At 9:56, Mr Renner was taken via care flight to a Reno area hospital.”

Further in his press briefing on Tuesday (3 January), Sheriff Darin Balaam of Washoe County shared clarifying “details” of Renner’s accident to clear up “some misinformation that’s circulated”.

Balaam said: “I want to be clear here as well as going on a major accident investigation and we are handling it as we would any other major accident investigation. We are still conducting interviews and processing items from the scene.

“Based on our investigation, Mr Renner’s personal vehicle, which was being driven by a family member, had become stuck in the snow near his home.

“Mr Renner went to retrieve his PistenBully, or Snowcat, an extremely large piece of snow removal equipment, weighing at least 14,330 lbs (approx 6500 kg), in an effort to get his vehicle moving,” he continued.

“After successfully towing his personal vehicle from its stuck location, Mr Renner got out of his PistenBully to speak to his family member. At this point, it is observed that the PistenBully started to roll. In an effort to stop the rolling PistenBully, Mr Renner attempts to get back into the driver’s seat of the Pistenbully.

“Based on our investigation, it’s at this point that Mr Renner is run over by the Pistenbully. An eye-witness detailed seeing Mr Renner getting into the PistenBully and not seeing him again until the PistenBully came to a rest in a pile of snow in front of his driveway,” Balaam explained.

“At this point in the investigation, we do not believe Mr Renner was impaired at all and we believe this is a tragic accident.”

While the investigation is ongoing, Balaam stressed that they “do not suspect any foul play”.

Following the Sheriff’s press conference, a reporter asked if anyone could drive a Snowcat or if you needed a licence to operate one.

“It was on a private road, so he can drive that Snowcat. In this instance, as Mr Renner always does, those private roads. He was being a great neighbour and he was ploughing those roads for his neighbours up there. Again they had three feet,” Sheriff Balaam responded.

Now, while the Marvel actor was on private roads, many companies require professional Snowcat operators/drivers to have at least a driver’s licence. Some even require their drivers to go through training and certification before operating the Snowcat.

Unfortunately, some people on social media have used Renner’s accident to craft memes making light of his injury.

Many of Renner’s fans have scathed those joking about the incident on Twitter, with one writing: “Y’all quit saying stuff like, ‘he’s Hawkeye, as long as his arms are fine’ and ‘he’s a superhero’ Y’ALL THIS IS AN ACTUAL PERSON! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE CONCERNED FOR HIM! NOT MAKING YOUR DUMB JOKES!”

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Since Renner’s first social media post after the accident – a selfie shared from his hospital bed – commenters have sent their best wishes.

The actor’s Avengers co-stars Chris Pratt and Chris Hemsworth were quick to share their love, but since then a raft of other A-listers have commented, including Paul Bettany and Jimmy Fallon.

“Love you mate. Sending you love and healing,” Bettany wrote.

“Lotsa love out there for you bud,” wrote Fallon.

According to earlier reports, Renner’s neighbour, a doctor, had saved his life by putting a tourniquet on his leg.

However, during Tuesday’s press conference, Sheriff Balaam confirmed that there “was no doctor on scene. It was good neighbours of Mr Renner’s that came out with some towels and rendered some aid”.

When asked whether they had tied a tourniquet, Balaam responded: “That part I do not know. I just know that they came out with some towels and helped him until our first responders could get there.”

Immediately after being nearly fatally crushed by the Snowcat, Renner was apparently still conscious. When asked what condition the actor was in when they arrived on scene, Balaam said that Renner was “speaking to the first responders”.

While this was a “tragic” incident it was not a freak accident. Although Balaam could not provide specific numbers or statistics for how common this kind of Snowcat incident is, he did say: “I would have to tell you probably, there’s always at least – because this type of Snowcat is one you’d see at ski resorts – that there’s always these types of injuries or accidents that occur. That exact number I do not know.”

Again, the Sheriff wasn’t sure if it was “the neighbours or his family member”.