A young laborer forced to have the entire bottom half of his body amputated after a horrific forklift accident is speaking out about his condition — and slamming “rude” people who ask about his sex life.
Loren Schauers, 20, underwent a hemicorperectomy back in 2019 after his body became pinned under a four-ton vehicle at a worksite in Wilsall, Montana.
The rare and risky surgery requires the removal of a patient’s legs, genitalia, urinary system, pelvic bones, anus and rectum. Medics also amputated Schauers’ right arm after it was left irreparably damaged in the accident.
Now, almost three years on, Schauers is opening up about adjusting to life without almost all of his limbs, saying in a recent YouTube video that he still manages to remain optimistic despite dealing with chronic pain.
“It’s not anyone else’s fault that my pain exists,” he stated. “I’m not going to sit here and wallow and freak out on the whole world. I’m still going to try to be as jolly as I can, even though I’m sitting here dying in pain at times.”
At the time of the accident, Schauers had been dating girlfriend Sabia Reiche, 23, for around 18 months.
Reiche stood by her boyfriend following his life-altering surgery — and the couple became closer than ever. They have since married, and Reiche is her husband’s primary caregiver.
Due to Schauers’ mobility issues, Reiche regularly showers him and changes his colostomy bag.
The selfless spouse appears alongside Schauers in joint YouTube videos, where they document their dedication to one another.
The open and honest couple often discuss the struggles that they face — but refuse to address questions about their sex life.
“A question we get repeatedly is, ‘How do we have sex and how do we become intimate?’” Reiche stated in a recent YouTube video, according to The Daily Star.
“That is a very personal question that we are never going to answer or allude to, as it’s very disrespectful,” she sternly stated. “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.”
Back in 2020, Schauers told South West News Service that doctors initially tried to save some of his sperm but realized it wasn’t “viable.”
The horrific accident occurred in September 2019 while Schauers was working as a laborer on a construction site during a bridge rehabilitation job.
He was driving a forklift over a highway bridge outside of Wilsall when cars started illegally passing him on the one-lane structure, according to SWNS.
As one car passed him, Schauers veered too close to the bridge edge and the ground crumbled beneath him. He attempted to jump from the falling forklift but his leg got trapped by the seatbelt, swinging him from the machinery as it plummeted 50 feet down a steep hill.
The forklift rolled three times down the hill before it landed on top of Schauers, crushing his body.
“I was conscious the whole time. My eyes were wide open and I saw the forklift come down and land on my hips and my right forearm,” he told SWNS in 2020.
“I remember looking to my right with the forklift on top of my body and there was big, old piece of muscle from my arm just lying on the ground next to me. It had just blown apart instantly from the impact,” the youngster further recalled.
Doctors had no choice but to perform the rare and dangerous hemicorporectomy, which transects the lumbar spine.
Speaking to SWNS, Schauers said he is still grateful to be alive, despite his lack of mobility and the pain he often finds himself in.
“I have a very simple life now compared to what it used to be. There’s a lot more laying around than before,” he stated. “[But] It was about three months after the accident that I finally wrapped my head around how crazy and miraculous it really is for me to be alive.
And while he will not be able to have any biological babies of his own, Schauers still wants to raise children with Reiche.
“We want to travel the world first and then have some kids and teach them to be better people than we are, so a pretty simplistic life,” he declared. “My best advice to anyone going through something like this is that you can’t focus on the things you can’t have and you must live your life to the fullest with what you do have.”
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