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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
John James & Amy Walker

'I was cut in half by forklift in horror accident - but my wife has stuck by me'

A young man who lost half of his body during a horrific construction accident has bravely spoken about his recovery.

Loren Schauers, 20, lost his legs and right forearm two years ago.

The former labourer from Great Falls in Montana, USA was involved in a freak accident in September 2019 while working with a forklift on a bridge.

After traffic forced him to get too close to the edge, he fell 50ft and was crushed by the forklift - severing his forearm and crushing his lower body.

Doctors then performed an emergency hemicorperectomy on him, meaning everything below his waist was amputated in order to save his life.

Loren was crushed by a forklift in a freak accident in 2019 (Loren Schauers / SWNS)
Loren working on the bridge construction job before his accident (Loren Schauers / SWNS)

But a month after the operation, healthcare professionals did not believe he would not survive, reports the Daily Star.

Having miraculously made a recovery, he now documents his new life on YouTube.

Loren shares his YouTube account with his devoted wife Sabia Reiche, 23, who has stayed by his side through all his health problems.

Due to Loren's mobility issues, Sabia has to perform many day to day tasks for Loren including changing his colostomy bags and showering him.

But despite the life the two have carved out for each other, they say there is one question that still irks them: How do they have sex?

Loren's operation led to the removal of his genitalia as his pelvis had been completely crushed.

Loren Schauers with girlfriend Sabia Reiche (Loren Schauers / SWNS)
The couple has been very open about the uncertainty of Loren's life expectancy in the past (Loren Schauers / SWNS)

He previously said that doctors had made efforts to save some of his sperm but decided it wasn't 'viable.'

Responding to the question of sex on a Q&A, Loren's wife Sabia said the question was 'disrespectful'.

She said: "A question we get repeatedly is how do we have sex and how do we become intimate.

"That is a very personal question that we are never going to answer or allude to as it's very disrespectful.

"You wouldn't ask a random couple on the street how they have sex and just because our life circumstances are different, it doesn't give people the right to ask."

The couple has been very open about the uncertainty of Loren's life expectancy in the past.

Speaking on their YouTube channel, Sabia confessed that due to the severity of Loren's surgery it was 'touch and go'.

She said: "It's touch and go, there's no for sure. The average is about 11 years and the record-holder was 24 years. But none of them were in the same situation as Loren.

Loren Schauers with girlfriend Sabia Reiche before the accident (Loren Schauers / SWNS)

"If we go off of that we are hoping Loren has 40 plus years left with us.

"Because his case was so rare it's hard to pinpoint."

In a bid to make life easier in the meantime, the couple are appealing for donations to fund a new bionic arm for Loren.

If you would like to learn more about their fundraiser, you can do so here.

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