Jeremy Renner Says 'Sprinting' Up His Driveway Gave Him 'Hope' After Being Told He'd 'Never Walk Again' (Exclusive)

Jeremy Renner celebrates his victories.

More than a year after the traumatic accident with the snow plow, The mayor of Kingstown Star, 53, was focused on his recovery and getting back to a new normal.

To do that, Renner partnered with Brooks Running for their latest “Let’s Run There” campaign, and says the fact that he can even move — let alone run — is a miracle.

“I could barely walk, so I didn’t know what these shoes would do for me,” Renner tells PEOPLE of his condition after the near-fatal incident in January 2023 and the subsequent gift of sneakers he received from Brooks Running.

Jeremy Renner for Brooks Running 2024.

Brooks Running/Aisha McAdams

Renner was helping his nephew pull a stuck vehicle out of the snow when he was run over by a 14,300 lb. snow blower January 1, 2023 The actor broke more than 30 bones and had to undergo multiple surgeries as a result.

After returning home from the hospital, Renner remained focused on his recovery, no matter how small the steps were. He says he started by carrying his new toys around the house until he felt strong enough to take it to the next level.

“When I really started using them, it was one day after training, maybe 10 months after recovery,” the actor recalls. “I felt really good and strong, and I felt pretty good trying to navigate these things and see if I could do it.”

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That day, Renner managed to jump his driveway, and his trainer captured the moment. Naturally, Renner’s next instinct was to turn and run for the end.

“I said, ‘I’m going to try to sprint this thing,'” he says, “and I did.”

In fact, Renner says he sprinted up the driveway “a few times” after realizing he could do it, and the feat really hit home.

“It meant so much to me because getting out of a wheelchair and limping around with a cane and [being] I said you’ll never walk properly again and you’ll never run again, that was quite hopeful for me,” he explains. “It gave me an ally.”

Renner says that knowing he’s progressing and hoping to keep moving up has served as a “superpower or fuel” for him, similar to when “a Jedi gets a lightsaber.”

“You have something on your side. When you have hope, hope is a powerful ally. Many things help us build hope, and progress helps us build hope. That’s the simple thing,” he says. “Failures don’t feel like failures, but they also inspire hope because you can make progress out of failure. You can’t really keep moving forward without failing. You must have both. You have to fail to succeed.”

Jeremy Renner ‘full of gratitude and zeal’ as he runs: ‘Get better, get stronger’

Jeremy Renner on ‘The Mayor of Kingstown’.

Dennis P. Mong Jr./Paramount +

And while Renner has accepted that his recovery will take “the rest of my life,” he’s happy to report that he’s always making new strides (literally).

“I’m making progress. I am waiting [Brooks] to come to light after this, and [then] we sprint,” he says with a laugh.

The star is also thriving behind the scenes of her Paramount+ show Mayor of Kingstown, where he even performed his own stunt work for the upcoming third season.

“The stunt work, it was pretty violent – ​​and it’s surprising that I even got to try it, for me personally. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do it, but in the first episode we were surprised, there were no injuries,” Renner said in the attachment. which were shared exclusively by PEOPLE.

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3rd season The mayor of Kingstown premiering Sunday, June 2 on Paramount+.

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Source: HIS Education