A teenager has defied the odds by surviving a horrifying forklift truck accident that left him needing urgent surgery to amputate the bottom half of his body.
Loren Schauers, 19, was driving the industrial truck across a bridge when he veered off, plummeted 50ft and found himself pinned to the ground beneath the massive vehicle.
He remained totally conscious the entire time – and look down to see his right arm had exploded and everything below his hips was completely squashed.
The young labourer made the brave decision to let medics perform hemicorperectomy surgery – where everything below his waist was amputated – to save his life.
Doctors told his devastated girlfriend Sabia Reiche, now 21, he wouldn’t survive, and she said goodbye to him six times, fearing he wouldn’t live another day.
His girlfriend stood by him even when she was told it is impossible to save him from the horror.
The pair had only been together for 18 months when the accident happened but said the turmoil brought them closer together, and they got engaged this year.
Loren, from Great Falls, Montana, said in a YouTube video: ‘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.
‘It wasn’t a hard choice to have half of my body amputated – it was basically a choice of living or dying.
‘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!’
Loren was working as a labourer on a construction site during a bridge rehabilitation job in September 2019.
