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Jeremy Renner’s Neighbor Reveals Actor’s Head Looked ‘Cracked’ Open Following Snowplow Accident

When Jeremy Renner’s neighbor found the actor pinned under a snow plow and bleeding on New Year’s Day, he feared the absolute worst.

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In a preview from Renner’s upcoming primetime interview with Diane Sawyer, which aired on Good Morning America Thursday, the actor’s neighbor Rich Kovach said he the amount of blood he saw gushing from Renner’s body “overwhelmed” him.

“And then he was — he was just in such pain,” Kovach said of Renner. “And the sounds that were coming out of him — and there was so much blood in the snow.”

Kovach also said he could see an incredibly severe head wound at the time of the accident.

“And then when I looked at his head it appeared to me to be cracked wide open. And I could see white, I don’t know if that was his skull … maybe it was just my imagination but that’s what I thought I saw,” Kovach added.

About three months ago, Renner broke more than 30 bones after his snowplow ran over him while he was helping a family member get a “stuck” vehicle out of the snow. Since then, he has undergone multiple surgeries, and feels lucky to be alive.

Kovach’s partner Barb Fletcher echoed the sentiments, saying she saw “a lot of blood coming from [Renner’s] head and just grabbed one of the towels.”

“It was still folded and just applied pressure. I could tell he was really struggling to breathe,” she said.

Lying in the snow, Jeremy Renner penned a final goodbye to his family via a cell phone mic just in case he didn’t make it

Kovach, himself, made the 911 call that would save Renner’s life: “Someone’s been run over by a snowcat. Hurry! He’s been crushed. Send paramedics, ambulance,” Kovach continued hurriedly in the call. “Listen to me: You might wanna get a life flight out here immediately.”

Renner’s nephew Alex Fries, whom he saved from injury by jumping in front of the plow, lifted his uncle’s arm in the aftermath, which seemingly helped him breathe.

“‘Just breathe, just breathe,’ [we] said,” Fries recalled. “I stood over him in this crouched position, holding his arm for the entire time. From seconds after that guy came over, it was just that. I was just locked in on him.”

In the Sawyer interview, Renner, himself, said he remained conscious during the trauma. He added that he tried to move his legs on a few occasions, and openly wondered to himself what the future may hold for his body.

“I’m thinkin’ like, ‘What’s my body look like? Am I just gonna be like a spine in a brain like a science experiment?’ ” he said. “Is that my existence now? I sorta felt like, ‘What am I — what’s my existence gonna be like?”

Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview airs Thursday, April 6 at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT on ABC News.