{"id":51346,"date":"2026-04-15T10:52:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=51346"},"modified":"2026-04-15T10:52:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:52:41","slug":"teen-went-from-6-to-28-after-amputation-below-the-waist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=51346","title":{"rendered":"Teen went from 6&#8242; to 2&#8217;8&#8243; after amputation below the waist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Loren Schauers was \u201cextremely happy and fulfilled\u201d in his construction job \u2014 until a routine task in 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/11\/24\/teen-who-was-crushed-by-forklift-opens-up-about-amputation\/\">upended his life forever<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll always remember that day. I got in the forklift, and I was asked to move a water barrier back into place,\u201d recalled Schauers, who was 18 at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI sank immediately into such an angle that I started to slow tip up and go down towards a 50-foot drop of a hill,\u201d he continued. \u201cNext thing I know, I\u2019m watching this forklift roll downward towards me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a miracle that Schauers, now 24, didn\u2019t die while crushed beneath that forklift for 30 minutes. <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/16\/i-lost-half-my-body-in-a-forklift-accident-dont-ask-how-i-have-sex\/\">He underwent a hemicorporectomy<\/a>, a rare surgery that amputates the body below the waist.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A tragic forklift accident in 2019 cost Loren Schauers the organs and limbs below his waist. <span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Montana resident lost his pelvis, legs, right forearm \u2014 even his genitalia.<\/p>\n<p>He shares his struggles and triumphs on Wednesday\u2019s premiere of \u201cOne Day in My Body,\u201d airing at 9 p.m. ET\/PT. The new TLC series highlights inspiring patients with extremely unusual medical conditions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to be featured on \u2018One Day in My Body\u2019 in order to help show others in similar situations to me and the others on the show that you can still live a full life even if you\u2019ve been through something painful and terrible,\u201d Schauers told The Post.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI feel like it\u2019s very important to show both the good and bad of life with a disability,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Schauers\u2019s injuries are extremely devastating \u2014 he went from being nearly 6 feet tall to 2 feet, 8 inches, with a weight that hovers around 90 pounds. And nothing is where it should be on his body.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe surgeon had to remove everything from his hip bones down,\u201d family nurse practitioner Brandon Hawk explained, noting that the lower hip area is where the intestines are situated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo get everything to fit right, they had to move everything up, which then would push on his stomach, his lungs, his heart,\u201d Hawk said. \u201cAnd then they had to make room for a colostomy for his stool to pass through and then a urostomy for urine because he no longer has a bladder.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Schauers wanted to be featured on the new TLC series \u201cOne Day in My Body\u201d to show the ups and downs of life with a disability. <span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>Schauers\u2019s story is not just one of human resilience \u2014 it\u2019s also of unbridled love.<\/p>\n<p>Before the horrific accident, Schauers had been dating and living with Sabia Reiche for about 15 months.<\/p>\n<p>Reiche, then 20, was stunned to get the call about Schauers\u2019s emergency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we were brought to Loren\u2019s room, because he was already amputated so much, he was taking up such a small amount of the bed,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI was convinced we were in the wrong room. I thought we were in a kid\u2019s room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even though they were facing overwhelming uncertainty, Reiche didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt really wasn\u2019t even a decision for me. My brain just immediately went, \u2018OK, this is our life now,&#8217;\u201d said Reiche, now 27.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Sabia Reiche stayed committed to Schauers by marrying him and becoming his primary caretaker. <span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cLoren relies 24\/7 on me for everything,\u201d she added. \u201cFood or drinks or ostomy changes or giving him a shower.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schauers returned home from the hospital about four months after the accident. It took a while to get into a routine.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>He has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DW4vtcyAQbP\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wheelchair to get around<\/a> and a \u201csitting apparatus\u201d that resembles a turtle shell that allows him to sit up straight without putting pressure on his spine. Reiche is also shown carrying him on the episode.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy the six-month mark, I was sitting up by myself, getting up at 8, 9:00 in the morning, emptying my pee bag, brushing my teeth,\u201d Schauers said, \u201cgetting ready for the day by myself before my wife was even awake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schauers and Reiche, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jFk-oST_2s8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wed in 2021<\/a>, have been documenting their reality on their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/loren.schauers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media channels<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most asked questions: How is their sex life?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Chronic kidney infections are one of Schauers\u2019s top health challenges. <span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes to intimacy, we\u2019re not different than any other regular couple,\u201d Schauers said. \u201cI might not have all the parts that I need, but it doesn\u2019t change how we\u2019re intimate with one another or how we love one another or how we show affection to one another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not long after the accident, Schauers was informed he wouldn\u2019t be able to father children. He said it was \u201cone of the hardest things\u201d to process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t cry over not having legs or a pelvis,\u201d he said. \u201cThe only thing I cried about was not being able to have kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even though the couple is in a good groove, Schauers\u2019s health challenges persist. He\u2019s shown on the episode battling yet another kidney infection.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fear is eventually reaching a point where he\u2019s resistant to all of the antibiotics, and then we face kidney failure,\u201d Reiche said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of where, like, the life expectancy for him comes into play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schauers added: \u201cHopefully we\u2019ll live \u2019til we\u2019re 80. We\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He told The Post that now that filming is over, the couple is working on a \u201cfew things to improve my independence,\u201d including prosthetic advancements.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/15\/health\/teen-went-from-6-to-28-after-amputation-below-the-waist\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Loren Schauers was \u201cextremely happy and fulfilled\u201d in his construction job \u2014 until a routine task in 2019 upended his life forever. \u201cI\u2019ll always remember that&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}