Loren Schauers, a 19-year-old from Montana, faced a life-altering accident in September 2019 when a forklift he was driving fell 50 feet off a bridge, trapping him under its four-ton weight. Conscious the entire time, he watched as his right arm was crushed and his lower body was pinned.
Doctors gave Loren a grim choice: die or undergo a hemicorporectomy—amputation of everything below the waist. He chose life. “It wasn’t a hard choice,” Loren said. “It was life or death.”
His girlfriend Sabia, by his side throughout, said goodbye to him six times in the hospital, expecting the worst. Yet Loren survived, and the couple got engaged in 2020.
Despite losing his lower body, right arm, and reproductive organs, Loren has shown remarkable resilience. He left the hospital in just three months, defying expectations. Today, he and Sabia share their journey with over 639,000 subscribers on YouTube.
They’re open about most aspects of their new life—like Loren’s use of a colostomy and kidney drains—but draw the line at intrusive questions about intimacy.
Loren also reflected on lost friendships after the accident, admitting some disappointment but affirming, “I got Sabia, that’s all I need.”
Now, five years later, Loren continues to battle chronic pain, but says it’s more manageable. He focuses on living fully and embracing the life he still has—with Sabia beside him.