Jeremy Renner "heard all of his bones" being crushed when he was hit by a snowplough.

The 54-year-old actor sustained a number of injuries in January 2023 when he was hit by the vehicle on New Year's Day in an attempt to save his nephew Alex, and has now reflected on what he experienced in those five seconds as the plough ran over him.

Writing for The Times, he said: "Skull, jaw, cheekbones, molars; fibula, tibia, lungs, eye sockets, cranium, pelvis, ulna, legs, arms, skin; crack, snap, crack, squeeze, crack. More sounds: a ringing in the ears, as if a gun had unloaded next to my head. A sting of bright white in my eyes -- I was blinded by a coruscating lightning, a lightning that signals the break of my orbital bone, causing my left eyeball to violently burst out of my skull.

"I heard all the bones crack, every one of them (I'll find out later that there are 38, maybe more, in various states of crack and shatter and twist and shard).

"Then, perhaps five seconds later -- count them, one, two, three, four, five -- the machine passed. "My crushed body was relieved from the immense weight at last. As I momentarily blacked out, the snowcat continued its agonising march."

The Marvel star noted that his nephew hadn't even realised what was happening and was hoping for a "quick death" but had a miracle "escape" from it all.

He said: "From Alex's perspective, he told me later that he really didn't know what was happening. He heard me shout and then realised with horror that the snowcat was speeding towards him. He managed to quickly jump back into the truck, but he didn't even have time to close the door.

"Inside, he slammed it into reverse, hammering the gas, never taking his eyes off the snowcat, hoping to escape the oncoming, and probably devastating, collision. He closed his eyes. His only thought as the snowcat approached was, 'Please be quick.' He didn't want a long and painful death.

"Safe in the cab of the truck, he was not crushed. He escaped by the slimmest of seconds -- the immense blade of the snowcat closing the door tight and pushing him and the Raptor sideways into the snowbank and a tree."

Jeremy had his chest and leg reconstructed with titanium and though he still experiences lingering discomfort, he doesn't mind because it is "awesome" just to be alive and have made significant strides in his recovery.

He told People magazine: "My swollen ankles, my back that keeps going out or my jaw that just can't seem to bite down right, it's a great reminder of an attitude that got me to here in the first place.

"It's awesome. This is why I can't have a bad day. I know what a bad day feels like."