Jeremy Renner’s recovery from a horrific snow plough accident appears on track, with the actor back on his feet with the help of a high-tech walking aid.
The 52-year-old Avengers actor shared a video to social media on Monday (AEDT) depicting him walking again in an anti-gravity treadmill.
“It’s like having a cane,” Renner is heard saying on the 15-second video.
Renner was left in a critical condition after he was run over by a snow plow on New Year’s Day while attempting to help a family member get a stuck vehicle out of snow.
He broke more than 30 bones and underwent several surgeries after the mishap.
“I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will,” Renner wrote on Twitter as he posted himself taking his assisted steps.
Tweet from @JeremyRenner
The footage shows Renner speaking with a therapist as he walks, who explains that the machine is enabling him to do all of “the walking motion” by himself.
Anti-gravity treadmills are commonly used to aid recovery post-surgery and for injury rehabilitation.
By relieving up to 80 per cent of a user’s weight, the machines promote a return to function and mobility while lessening the impact on a patient’s lower limbs.
One of Renner’s last previous updates on his ongoing recovery came on February 27 when he shared a clip showing one of his legs resting while the other pedals on a fitness machine.
‘Whatever it takes’
“Whatever it Takes,” he wrote over the video, in reference to a line spoken by Marvel costar Chris Evans in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
A sheriff’s report in January detailed the seriousness of Renner’s snow plough accident.
The incident report states Renner was using the PistenBully snow groomer to pull his nephew’s truck out of deep snow after a blizzard.
As he was working, the plough began sliding sideways, which led to Renner exiting the vehicle without setting the emergency brake.
“Once he was off the PistenBully, he realised it was heading directly toward [his nephew],” the Nevada sheriff’s report reads.
“He feared the PistenBully was going to hit (his nephew), so he decided to attempt to stop or divert the PistenBully.”
Seeking to jump back into the snow plough, Renner tried to climb onto its moving track and was pulled under the heavy machinery and crushed.
Renner received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his performance in 2008’s The Hurt Locker, followed by a Best Supporting Actor nomination for The Town in 2010.
He has portrayed comic-book character, Hawkeye, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2011 and currently stars in the crime thriller series Mayor of Kingstown.
