Man cut in half by forklift revisits accident site years after sharing horrific photo from scene
A man who was cut in half by a forklift has revisited the site where the accident took place six years on.
Back in September 2019, Loren Schauers was just 18-years-old when he got to work on a remote site. But the forklift he was operating fell off a bridge and plummeted 50 feet to the ground below, pinning him underneath.
The American faced life-altering injuries as a result, as he gave the green light for everything below his waist to be amputated in what was a matter of life or death.
Six years on from the incident, the 25-year-old regularly speaks about the details behind the accident online, and admits how he is grateful to be alive despite having his right arm and everything below his stomach amputated.
Advert
He is still with his loving wife, Sabia, who has stood by his side through all the turmoil, helping him as he learned to live after his amputation, also known as a hemicorporectomy.
The pair have a YouTube channel called Sabia and Loren, where they share aspects of his condition, general vlogs of their lives and more recently, a video where they go back to the site of the accident itself.
Sabia and her father followed, with the latter driving them to the location, in a video posted to the couple's 680,000+ subscribers.
As they approached the site, Sabia looked emotional, with text on the screen pointing out that she was trying to hold it together, while Loren surprisingly was unmoved.
They couldn't get out of the car due to the terrain not being suitable for Loren's wheelchair, but it didn't stop the trio from looking back at where he was thrown out of the forklift and pinned."
Surprisingly, I don't have any feelings that are taking over now that we are here," Loren told the camera.
In contrast, Sabia explained: "I seriously think that while he got all of the physical trauma, I got all of the emotional trauma, because I am not doing good right now. I'm struggling."
Loren had previously shared an image of the moment where he was stuck under the forklift, as it can be seen on its side on a steep hill, though he was not visible.
"If you look closely in the second photo, you can see me still pinned under the forklift. Last photo is exactly what type it was I’m sure of," he pointed out on Instagram.
Speaking in the past about the incident, he admitted that he was awake through the accident and while he was being taken to hospital, recalling: "I was conscious throughout everything, so I actually watched as the forklift fell on top of me and crushed my body.
"Every medical professional I come across is pretty amazed by everything, especially with the story that comes along with my injuries."
He said that it wasn't a choice in deciding if he would be amputated or not - it was life or death.
Loren admitted: "With Sabia assuring to stay by my side no matter what and all my immediate family being around me, it really wasn’t a hard choice for me!"
Sharing more about his situation in hospital, he said that there were '10 to 15 people in this emergency room just all while not knowing what the f**k to do'.
Loren went on: "I lifted my head and looked up and I see my legs just looking like Derrick Rose's leg times 10. Pretty much just bone sticking out everywhere and my legs were just completely done for, let's put it at that.
"And they slam my head down, put a strap over my head, told me that they didn't want me to lift my head in case I broke my spine. And then they put the anaesthesia mask on me."
Adding that he still 'felt no pain', he remembered feeling a midline incision being made in his stomach to put his ribs back into place.
"I don't know if it was a feeling or a hearing but it was like, cracking, and finally I passed out."
His wife Sabia was told he wouldn't make it, with her having to say goodbye to him six times.
Joshua Nair