Jeremy Renner used sign language he learned for 'Hawkeye' to tell his family 'I'm sorry' after he was crushed by a snow plow

• Jeremy Renner used sign language to tell his family "I'm sorry" following his snow plow accident.
• He also wrote "last words" to his family on the notes app on his phone while recovering.

While in the hospital following a snow plow accident in Reno, Nevada, on New Year's Day, Jeremy Renner used sign language to tell his family, "I'm sorry."

"I was signing that because I am sorry," the Marvel superhero told Diane Sawyer in a clip previewing an upcoming exclusive interview that will air Thursday at 10 p.m. on ABC News.

Renner had learned sign language to welcome "Hawkeye" costar Alaqua Cox — who is deaf — to set, IGN reported in 2021.

In a clip released Wednesday, Renner also told Sawyer that while in the hospital, he was writing last words to his family in the notes app on his phone.

"So I'm writing down notes in my phone, last words to my family," Renner said through tears.

He told Sawyer he "refuses to be fucking haunted by that memory that way," referring to the moment he was crushed by a snow plow on a mountain in Nevada.

Renner was trying to stop the snow plow from hitting his nephew, Alexander Fries, when it ran him over on his property. The plow was being used to pull Fries' truck from the snow when it began to slide off track and ran over Renner.

He was hospitalized with several injuries, including multiple broken bones, a collapsed lung, and a pierced liver.

"I shift the narrative of being victimized, or making a mistake, or anything else," Renner said.