Jeremy Renner, a member of the Avengers and a Marvel star, is in critical condition after undergoing surgery following an accident while clearing snow outside his home with a snowplow.
He was airlifted to the hospital on Sunday after the accident. Renner suffered a blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries, according to BBC News, and is still in intensive care, his publicist Samantha Mast said in a statement to US media on Monday night.
Detailing the event: "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," Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said.
"Mr. Renner went to retrieve his PistenBully [snowplow] or snowcat, an extremely large piece of snow removal equipment, weighing at least 14,330 pounds, in an effort to get his vehicle moving. After successfully towing his personal vehicle from its stuck location, Mr. Renner got out of his PistenBully to speak to a 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 eyewitness detailed seeing Mr. Renner get 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. At this point in the investigation, we do not believe Mr. Renner was impaired at all, and we believe this is a tragic accident."
He added that the sheriff's office now has the PistenBully, which is being analysed so they can rule out any mechanical failures or factors like whether the machine was supposed to be in park, as they would in any major investigation. He said multiple times that they don't suspect any foul play.
Renner, who is still in critical condition and is being treated in intensive care, posted a photo of himself in a hospital bed to Instagram on Tuesday (January 3) afternoon. "Thank you all for your kind words, I'm too messed up now to type. But I send love to you all."
Renner, a two-time Oscar nominee, is most well-known for playing Clint Barton/Hawkeye in the Marvel Avengers franchise and its spinoff television series Hawkeye.