Choice of Life and Death: US Teen Gets Entire Lower Body Amputated after Forklift Truck Crash

An American teen has survived and is now recovering after he was involved in a life-threatening accident. A surgery amputating the lower half of his body was required in order for the teen to survive.

Loren Schauers, a 19-year-old teenager from Great Falls, Montana, was driving an industrial truck also known as a forklift truck when he met with an accident and was on the ground beneath the vehicle. The teen was still conscious after the accident and saw his right arm had exploded and the hips were squashed, reported Daily Mail.

The report says that in order to save his life, Loren let the doctors perform hemicorporectomy surgery. Speaking about his experience in a YouTube video, the 19-year-old labourer said that he did not face a hard choice when deciding whether to undergo amputation or not. For Loren, it was a choice between living or dying.

The accident happened in September 2019 while Loren was working on a construction site for bridge rehabilitation as a labourer. The accident took place when Loren was driving a forklift outside of Wilsal, Montana, when cars started passing him illegally. He was too close to the edge of the bridge when the ground started crumbling.

As Loren tried to escape the machine, his leg was caught by the seat belt and he was dragged with the falling machine. Loren fell on the ground at the bottom of the hill and the machine landed on top of him.

His girlfriend Sabia Reiche later discovered that Loren survived only because the ground beneath was soft as his team had been moving it. He was airlifted to Washington for surgery and was later transferred back to Montana.

Doctors had said that the chances of his survival were bleak and had asked Loren’s family and Sebia to bid him goodbye six times, but the teenager miraculously survived and recovered after the accident.

Their bond has grown stronger after the accident and the couple is engaged now.