Loren Schauers experienced a life-altering moment at just 18 years old, a split-second event that forever changed his existence.

He endured unimaginable agony following a devastating incident that literally left him severed in half.

In September 2019, while navigating a forklift across a bridge, Schauers was forced to swerve off course, causing a 50-foot fall that trapped him under the massive machinery.

Astonishingly, he remained conscious throughout the ordeal, vividly recalling the sight of his right arm bursting and the complete destruction of his lower body.

Despite the dire circumstances, Schauers expressed a fierce determination to survive, stating he would persevere even if reduced to merely a ‘head on a plate’.

He underwent a rare and intricate hemicorporectomy surgery, an operation performed on fewer than 100 individuals worldwide, which involved the amputation of everything below the waist, and remarkably, he lived through it.

Despite having his future goals shattered, Loren has defied every setback and rebuilt a new life for himself with his childhood sweetheart and now-wife Sabia Reiche.

Now, speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail six years after his accident, he has opened up about the life he had once dreamt of, his new dreams, and the one thing he misses the most.

The courageous man, now 24, revealed how himself and Sabia had together hoped to purchase a campervan and travel the state while he worked in construction. 

‘The dream and goal we had before the accident was that we were going to buy ourselves either a camper or bus, turn it into a tiny home, and just travel the state of Montana to whatever job site I’d be stationed to work at.

‘Sabia was just going to get a waitressing job or whatever is available in whatever area my job might have stationed me at the time. 

‘It’s not really much of a goal we want to achieve anymore; just cause I’m unable to do physical labor work like construction.

‘It’s had a big impact on what exactly I want to do to make a living in life.

‘I don’t have any skills or schooling.’

Loren had planned to continue working in construction in the future, but was forced to give up the dream post-accident.

He also had to give up one of his biggest passions.

‘The biggest thing I miss is being able to just hop in my truck that has a clutch and drive! 

‘Vehicles and driving around were and are one of my biggest loves outta life, so losing that has to be one of the biggest things I miss.’

Following Loren’s accident, both himself and Sabia have made their living through sharing their day-to-day experiences with viewers on YouTube.

The couple, who have purchased their own home, say they would not be nearly as financially stable if it hadn’t been for social media.

However, he told the Mail that their once viral channel ‘isn’t doing too good anymore’ six years after the accident.

He said: ‘Giving updates on how life was this month for the dude who got cut in half by a forklift is getting old/stale.’

He now has two career goals, gaming, and reviewing businesses specialised in disability equipment.

‘Playing video games and getting paid to do that seems like the only real viable option, given my social media presence and what not’, he said.

‘I’d like to start producing content on YouTube of me going around the state of Montana, reviewing businesses and places handicap accessibility, what could be better, what works, what doesn’t. Along with starting to stream on Twitch and YouTube. 

‘I think the two things would give me a job that I’d look forward to doing. 

‘But our current goal is just to get me set up with proper prosthetics, equipment, and technology that provides the help for day to day independence I need and am looking for.

‘I hope to get the needed referral to be able to travel to St. Louis in order to get a new body prosthetic made, one I can put on independently, that’s lined up better on my body, lighter, and slimmer in it’s overall design, hopefully giving me the ability to walk around in my hands and swing around on monkey bars. 

‘There’s a few things I’m looking to get done to hopefully improve my day-to-day, like a remote controlled wagon that has a lift, big tires, [and] side rails that drop down.

During his chat with the Mail, the first time he has spoken to a British publication, Loren also revealed a bitter rift with his family which began following his horror accident.

He told of how he felt people were more concerned with seeing ‘the spectacle’ than actually caring about him. 

‘It seemed like as soon as my family knew I wasn’t going to just up and die, they all quit showing up and providing any support.

‘Once I got home my friends and family came around but quickly I noticed it was to more see what’s up than caring about me.

‘They just wanted to see the spectacle.’

He also expressed his frustration that his family were ‘not able to understand’ that Sabia and Loren ‘are truly in love’.

Loren added: ‘For the most part it’s honestly my fault I don’t have more better friendships with people or my family cause I don’t really try to go out of my way to try and hang out and have a relationship with them anymore.

‘I just keep to myself and whatever I’m doing. 

‘Don’t get me wrong, I hit up my family every so often regardless saying I love and miss them but no one is ever messaging me first, trying to hang out, or willing to do anything so I’ve just over time become more and more of a hermit.’

Despite obstacles most would find insurmountable, Loren remains upbeat and puts this down to the support of his sister, wife and her family.

Loren explained: ‘My half sister is the only one of my immediate family members that has supported Sabia and I since the beginning.

‘Honestly, my sister is to thank for me being alive today, she’s the one who did the research in the hospital that day and found the hemicorperectomy surgery.

‘She got in contact with the surgeon and then fought the doctors to let me be the one to make the decision on going through with the surgery.

‘I thank God my sister was there and that Sabia was also there to help egg me on to fight, sat with me through all the ketamine induced trip outs [and] panicked moments.’

Loren got a bionic arm in 2020 and has mobility thanks to a specially-made wheelchair, but still requires around the clock care due to the complex nature of his injuries.

He said: ‘Life has changed drastically in that my independence, ever since getting the final body prosthetic, has been absolutely 100 per cent dependent on my caregivers helping me get sat up in said prosthetic, allowing me to sit up in my wheelchair and move around. 

‘The last few years I’d say I was stuck in a slump of not knowing what to do, what I want to do, and just waiting for things to just happen instead of taking action myself and making things come to fruition; instead of just waiting and hoping someone will come along with an answer to ask my prayers. 

‘So now I’m making an active effort to gaining back the absolute most independence I can possibly get in life.’

Early last year, after marrying and buying a home with Sabia, the couple revealed a desire to start a family and their hopes of having children through adopting or using a donor.

However, Loren told the Mail that he does not ‘really see it on the cards’.

He said: ‘We would like to have a family of our own but given how much of a problem my care has been, I don’t really see it in the cards for us.

‘Unless we really buckle down, start saving and planning for a future with kids, having a caregiver in place of Sabia for my care and then taking care of kids.

‘With all the extracurricular activities that come with raising children, it really wouldn’t be fair of us to bring a child or adopt a child in life and saddle them with a lifestyle like ours, just not conducive for raising children in my opinion.’

In September, Loren and Sabia spoke out about how trolls were attempting to steal their identity using fake social media profiles.

He hit out at a Facebook account that was purporting to be him and Sabia, and urged followers to report it, writing: ‘Yet another impersonator page y’all, you know the drill’.

The false profile garnered 25,000 followers with pictures and videos taken from Loren’s official page.

He explained to the Mail: ‘Social media has been an absolute blessing.

‘We wouldn’t be nearly as financially stable without all the help we’ve gotten from all the fans online through the years, we really cannot be more thankful for the amount of viewers we’ve had in the past.

‘Our channel isn’t doing too good anymore, we’re struggling with what exactly to post for content cause it’s been six years since the accident.

‘Giving updates on how life was this month for the dude who got cut in half by a forklift is getting old. 

‘That [is] about the only negative is that we’re struggling with what exactly to post anymore, given we’ve provided videos in the past on how we do this or that.

‘The way I look at it is there’s always gunna be trolls, someone with no morals, who doesn’t care who they’re screwing over cause all they care about is themselves. 

‘That is what it is, we just report the pages we come across, and let our fans know that said page is in fact not us.

‘So I’d say our followers are kind and great unless you do something where you’re trying to take advantage of our lives. 

‘It’s really great to have all the support we do have and have been able to maintain.

‘I doubt we’d be living in our own house if it wasn’t for all the support, probably still be stuck in an apartment.’