Man left with life-changing injuries after being chopped in half by forklift shares horrifying photo from the scene
A man who was chopped in half by a forklift when he was just a teenager bravely shared a photo from the scene of the tragic accident.
Loren Schauers hadn't even reached the age of 21 when his life changed forever in September 2019.
As part of his job as a builder, Schauers had been driving a forklift across a bridge in Montana when the vehicle veered off its path and plummeted 50ft to the ground.
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Schauers didn't die in the accident, but he was crushed under the huge forklift and suffered life-changing injuries.
At the time, Schauers' then-girlfriend, Sabia, received a call to say he was undergoing surgery. Four hours later, Schauers was airlifted to another hospital after he 'lost blood flow to his legs'.
Speaking in a YouTube video about the accident, Sabia recalled: "His pelvis was essentially — they were unable to save it. They didn't know how to save him."
Schauers ended up undergoing a life-saving hemicorporectomy operation, which involved the bottom half of his body and one of his arms being amputated.
Fast forward a few years, and Schauers and Sabia are now married.
Sabia helps to take care of Schauers by dressing him and helping him with his wheelchair, but Schauers has also since been fitted with a bionic arm which allows him to do more things for himself.
Schauers has been open about his accident and recovery online, and in 2022 he shared a picture from the scene of the accident.
The image shows a forklift lying on its side, at the bottom of a hill with a road running along the top.
The image is taken from some distance away, but in a post on Instagram Schauers wrote that it was taken while he was 'still pinned under the forklift'.
Schauers has received a lot of praise and support for his decision to open up about his experience, and last year the couple thanked those who have been following their lives online.
"It has been a long and wild journey and we can't wait to see where else thinks life will take us and we hope we can continue taking you all along with us," they said at the time.
Last summer, Schauers was taken to hospital after developing a kidney infection.
In a post on his Instagram page in December, he assured that he and Sabia were still 'alive', but that he was in hospital due to complications due to the infection.
"So not a great month but still good cause [there's] air still flowing through our lungs and our wits are still about us. We appreciate you guys!," he wrote.
Emily Brown