BUZZ BEAT MEDIA

More than two years after his near-fatal snowplow accident, Jeremy Renner is opening up about the chilling experience—and how he believes he briefly crossed over to the other side. 

In his newly released memoir My Next Breath, the Marvel actor recounts not just the physical trauma, but the surreal, almost otherworldly peace he encountered as he lay gravely injured on the ice.

The accident occurred on New Year’s Day 2023, when Renner was struck by a seven-ton snowplow outside his Nevada home. He suffered over 30 broken bones and severe chest trauma. But according to the 54-year-old actor, it wasn’t the fractures or blood loss that nearly claimed his life—it was hypothermia, creeping in slowly as he awaited medical help. 

“As I lay on the ice, my heart rate slowed,” Renner writes. “After about thirty minutes of breathing manually, something shifted. That’s when I died.”

He describes the moment not with fear, but with startling clarity. “My heart rate had dropped to 18 beats per minute. At that level, you’re basically dead,” he notes in the memoir. For Renner, those minutes—while unconscious—were filled with a profound and unexplainable calm.

The Mayor of Kingstown star recalls being surrounded by what he describes as a “constantly connected, beautiful and fantastic energy.” There was no pain, no cold, and no awareness of time or space—just a deep sense of serenity. “I was in space: no sound, no wind, nothing save this extraordinary electricity,” he writes. “It felt like being in every moment, all at once.”

He even believes he glimpsed his entire lifetime, all in one instant. “What came to me on that ice was an exhilarating peace,” Renner adds. “Silent, still, empty, yet filled with every instant and all the forevers.”

His daughter, Ava, now 12, and other loved ones tried to keep him conscious before EMTs arrived. But he notes that at one point, his skin tone changed and his eyes closed—signs that things had taken a critical turn.

Since the accident, Renner has made a slow but steady return to acting and has used his platform to share not only his physical recovery journey but also the spiritual one. His reflections hint at a renewed curiosity about faith. While Renner once studied theology in college and maintained an open view on belief, he now admits to taking a deeper look at his spiritual life following the accident.

He remains grateful for the second chance. His return to the set of Mayor of Kingstown marked a major milestone, where he performed a stunt for the first time since the incident. “You have to pull the Band-aid off at some point,” he said, describing the moment.

With My Next Breath, Renner offers more than just a survivor’s tale—it’s a poignant narrative of loss, reflection, and the quiet strength it takes to come back from the edge.

*Cover Photo/Thumbnail Photo from Flatiron Books