A man who was cut in half by a forklift revealed he was conscious the entire time.
In September 2019, Loren Schauers was just 18 when he was involved in the freak accident while working as a labourer.
The American was driving a forklift across a bridge when it veered off course and he plummeted 50ft to the ground.
While Loren survived the accident, he was crushed under the huge vehicle and suffered life-changing injuries.
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At the time, his then girlfriend, now-wife, Sabia, received a call to say the lad was undergoing surgery. Four hours later, Loren was airlifted to another hospital after he ‘lost blood flow to his legs’.
And while you think that plummeting so far to the ground and being crushed by a forklift would have you unconscious, that wasn’t the case for Loren.
He horrifyingly explained: “I was conscious throughout everything, so I actually watched as the forklift fell on top of me and crushed my body.”
The labourer lost three limbs as a result of the accident and medics performed hemicorporectomy surgery. In this, everything below the lad’s waist was amputated.
He previously explained the decision: “It wasn’t a hard choice to have half my body amputated – it was basically a choice of living or dying.”
His mum has power of attorney before the operation, according to Sabia, meaning she had a tricky decision to make.
“She didn’t know whether to have the surgery done and for him to wake up and hate her for it, or not have the surgery done and he die and her feel like she killed her son,” she said.
Sabia added: “I knew he wasn’t going anywhere because he looked them dead in the eye and told them he didn’t care if he was just a head on a plate, they’re going to do the surgery and they’re going to keep him alive.”
Loren and Sabia often update followers on their life and his condition on social media and in one YouTube video, he admitted he was ‘disappointed’ by how his mates reacted.
During a live stream, a user asked: “Do your friends still treat you the same way they used to before the accident? Are you happy, surprised or disappointed by some of them?"
Loren replied: “I've been mostly disappointed by most of them, I'd say."
Loren went on to explain that 'a couple of friends came out of the woodworks and have been really supportive'.
However, 'other friends totally reverted and have been reclusive', he added.
"But it's whatever to me, you know," Loren continued. "I got Sabia that's all I need."
Jess Battison