At 18, Loren Schauers had a job, a relationship, and a future still being written. Then, in September 2019, a forklift accident on a construction site in Montana rewrote it all in just 30 horrifying minutes.
Things went terribly wrong when Loren was ordered to use a forklift to relocate a water barrier. "I sank immediately into such an angle that I started to slow tip up and go down towards a 50-foot drop of a hill," he said to the New York Post. "Next thing I know, I'm watching this forklift roll downward towards me."
He was pinned underneath the vehicle. While coworkers frantically tried to rescue him, he lay there for thirty minutes, conscious the entire time. By the time they did, the damage was irreversible.
In 2019, Loren Schauers was ‘cut in half’ after a forklift fell from 50ft and landed on him. His injuries were horrific. He lost both legs and part of his right arm.
— Morbid Knowledge (@MorbidKnowledge) July 23, 2024
Loren ultimately required a hemicorporectomy, a life-saving procedure that necessitated the amputation of the… pic.twitter.com/fi5USWgSMB
Loren underwent a hemicorporectomy, which amputates everything below the waist and is one of the rarest and most drastic medical procedures. He lost his right forearm as well as his entire lower body, including his genitalia.
That wasn't the end of the surgical difficulty. A family nurse practitioner, Brandon Hawk, described the entire extent of the situation: "The surgeon had to remove everything from his hip bones down."
"To get everything to fit right, they had to move everything up, which then would push on his stomach, his lungs, his heart. And then they had to make room for a colostomy for his stool to pass through and then a urostomy for urine because he no longer has a bladder," the nurse added.
At the age of 20, Loren's then-girlfriend Sabia Reiche was informed by doctors that he would not live. She bid him farewell six times since she thought it might be the last. He made it through all of them.
When Sabia was eventually taken to his hospital room, she was completely taken aback by what she saw. "Because he was already amputated so much, he was taking up such a small amount of the bed. I was convinced we were in the wrong room. I thought we were in a kid's room," she said.
Her response was instantaneous, "It really wasn't even a decision for me. My brain just immediately went, 'OK, this is our life now.'"
In 2021, the couple got married. Now, Sabia offers 24-hour care, including food, beverages, ostomy adjustments, and showers. The 24-year-old Loren has been candid about the questions people ask about intimacy on the internet.
"I might not have all the parts that I need, but it doesn't change how we're intimate with one another or how we love one another or how we show affection to one another," he stated.
More pictures of Loren Schauers pic.twitter.com/5CPKyeLNhF
— Growing Curiosity (@growing_curio) July 23, 2024
But ask him what really broke him, and the answer has nothing to do with his legs.
Loren was told after the accident that he would be unable to have children. "I didn't cry over not having legs or a pelvis," he replied. "The only thing I cried about was not being able to have kids."
Loren, who is currently featured on TLC's 'One Day In My Body,' says his goal is to teach others that a full life is still achievable on the other side of disaster. "I feel like it's very important to show both the good and bad of life with a disability," he said.
