LOS ANGELES – Marvel superhero actor Jeremy Renner said on Tuesday that he was “messed up” after being run over by his own snow plough as he tried to climb into the driver’s seat of the giant six-ton vehicle.

Renner, who was taken by helicopter to nearby Reno, posted a selfie on Tuesday from his hospital bed, showing heavy bruising on his face.

“Thank you all for your kind words. I’m too messed up now to type. But I send love to you all,” he wrote on Instagram.

Renner’s publicist Samantha Mast said the actor had undergone surgery and was “making positive progress and is awake, talking and in good spirits”.

“He remains in ICU in critical but stable condition,” she said. “He is overwhelmed by the showing of love and support. The family asks for your continued thoughts while he heals with his close loved ones.”

Renner, 51, suffered severe injuries on Sunday morning near his Nevada home while attempting to halt the PistenBully machine, which had begun rolling forward after he used it to help free a stranded family member’s vehicle from heavy snow.

“In an effort to stop the rolling PistenBully, Mr Renner attempted to get back into the driver’s seat,” Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said at a press conference. “Based on our investigation, it’s at this point when Mr Renner is run over by that PistenBully.”

Officials at Tuesday’s press conference said there was no indication that alcohol or drugs were involved in the incident, which was being treated as a “tragic accident”.

Mr Balaam said an investigation was ongoing due to the “severe injuries” Renner suffered, including checks for any sign of mechanical failure.

The PistenBully, or snowcat, operated by Renner is a large specialised snow ploughing vehicle with giant, raised caterpillar tracks on each side of an enclosed cab.

Mr Balaam said emergency responders struggled to reach Renner due to 1m of snowfall the previous night, which forced several drivers to abandon their cars on a nearby highway.

On arriving, they treated Renner, and “some good neighbours of Mr Renner’s... came out with towels and rendered some aid”.

The sheriff praised Renner as a “great neighbour” who had been using his machine to plough private roads for nearby residents.

Renner holds the honorary title of deputy sheriff and is popular with local children, who call him “Hawkeye” after the superhero he plays in several Marvel films and a recent miniseries, added Mr Balaam.

Renner has been nominated for two Oscars for his roles in The Hurt Locker (2008) and The Town (2010). AFP