A 21-year-old man who was cut in half by a forklift truck has spoken out on the fake Instagram account pretending to be him, asking his followers to report it and not engage.
Hailing from Montana, USA, Loren Schauers only has one working limb after losing three limbs and undergoing a hemicorporectomy (amputating everything below his waist) to save his life following an accident involving a forklift in September 2019.
He was driving a forklift across a bridge in the US when it veered off and plummeted 50ft to the ground.
Advert
Schauers was pinned beneath the four-tonne vehicle, leaving him with life-changing injuries.
He remained conscious throughout, and looked down to see his right arm had exploded and everything below his hips completely crushed.
While initially fighting for his life, he begged doctors to save him even if he was left with 'just a head'.
As if that's not enough to contend with, after sharing his changed life on Instagram, he is now being impersonated.
He made a desperate plea to his 53K followers on his Instagram stories saying with a screenshot of the fake account's grid: "Don't follow/just report this fake account."
With over 1,600 followers and 16 posts, including graphic pictures of his amputations and a screenshot of a crowdfunding page that has raised over £20,000, Schauers is understandably outraged.
All of the bogus account's posts were uploaded within one day and the page further confuses his fans by including a link to Loren's genuine YouTube profile.
Conversely Schauers' account shares positive videos about his life as an amputee.
Over three years on from the tragic accident, Schauers lives without legs and his right forearm, and is cared for by his wife, Sabia Reiche.
The former construction worker previously had to hit back at conspiracy theories that he was faking his injuries for clout, and digitally edits out his waist and legs in videos.
Since his accident, Schauers and Sabia have received a staggering $85,000 (£68,000) in donations from strangers to pay for the high-tech prosthetic limbs he needs to function.
Conspiracy theorists claim that their GoFundMe page - the total of which continues to rise - is nothing more than a scam.
"I've seen a couple of comments that have said like this is a pretty elaborate scam," Schauers said.
Sabia explained that the scepticism was not just a few throwaway remarks beneath their YouTube videos, but an entire social-media thread conspiracy attempting to debunk the couple.
Topics: News, US News, Health, Instagram, Mental Health
Amelia Jones