- Loren was saving up to travel the country when he was involved in a work accident in 2019
- Working as a labourer, Loren was crushed by a forklift on a the job site
- The bottom half of his body was amputated to save his life
- Now, together with his wife Sabia he shares insights into his life on YouTube
Here Loren,24, shares his story in his own words.
Body aching, I paused to wipe the sweat from my eyes as I placed another huge rock onto the heap.
It was September 2019 and, aged 18, I was working as a labourer on a job site upgrading an old bridge.
It was hard work, but I’d taken extra shifts to save money so my girlfriend Sabia, then 19, and I could fulfil our dream to buy a van and travel.
This day, I was working overtime.
Temporary barriers lined the sides of the bridge as we worked to replace the guardrails.
So when a passing car accidentally knocked a barrier out of place, my manager asked me to fix it using the forklift.
Driving down the bridge, I spied an oncoming truck pulling a horse float.
The traffic lights had gone green on the opposite side of the bridge, but with no room for me to reverse, I had no choice but to keep moving forward.
As the lanes merged from two to one, due to the construction, I knew I’d have to drive carefully so I had room to pass.
Edging side-by-side to the vehicle, there was only a few centimetres between us when I suddenly felt the forklift pitch to the right.
The road we’d laid was still soft and the weight of the tyres caused the forklift to slip.
Thinking fast, I raised the tilt on the left hoping to balance the forklift.
But it was no use. With the two left wheels already off the edge of the bridge, I knew I was a goner.
Survival instinct kicking in, I unbuckled my seatbelt to dive from the carriage, before the forklift tumbled over the edge.
As I plunged 15 metres to the ground, I closed my eyes and prayed I’d survive.
Landing in a ditch with a thud, I watched in horror as the forklift plummeted down after me.
There was no time to move before the four-tonne machine rolled on top of me, pinning me at the waist.
Blinking dust from my eyes, I looked to the right, and could see that my right arm had been obliterated.
This can’t be real, I thought, before I vomited.
The forklift tumbled over the edge
Within seconds people had rushed to help.
I tried my best to stay calm, thinking of Sabia and my family.
I felt no pain at all.
After 20 minutes, I could hear the whir of a helicopter as a medical team touched down.
The forklift was finally removed by an excavator. So I snuck a peek at my mangled legs and saw they were crushed beyond recognition.
Loaded into the chopper, my one request was that someone call Sabia.
Landing at hospital, I was raced in for emergency surgery and was put in an induced coma.
When I came to over a week later, my mum, Santana, 39, my sister Celina, 26, and Sabia were there by my bedside.
A doctor was there too.
He explained that my legs, hips and right forearm couldn’t be saved – the blood flow had been restricted for too long.
‘To save your life we have to perform a hemicorporectomy,’ he told me, explaining the operation would see the bottom half of my body amputated.
Without the procedure I would die. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
But I had no choice.
‘I don’t care if I’m gonna be a head on a plate, do what you have to do,’ I said.
The following day I underwent the gruelling surgery.
When I woke, it was confronting to see that everything below my bellybutton was gone.
As my anus and genitals had also been removed, I had a colostomy bag to collect my waste.
The next three months were the hardest of my life.
My lungs collapsed, I had a pulmonary embolism – a blood clot in my lung – and an abscess infection in the bottom of my body which almost killed me.
I also struggled with phantom pain in my ‘legs’ as my body readjusted to my new normal.
But even on my worst days, Sabia was by my side.
‘We’ll get through this,’ she vowed.
In December, I was transferred to a bigger hospital where I stayed for a month to undergo rehab.
Every day I attended physical therapy, and I was also fitted with a prosthetic arm.
During one session in the gym, Sabia filmed a video of me and uploaded it to TikTok @sabia.and.loren to share my progress with her family.
The next morning, the video had a whopping 13 million views.
‘Everyone wants to know your story,’ she said.
It inspired us to make a YouTube channel @SabiaandLoren and to keep sharing my progress online.
Now, five years on, we have 665,000 subscribers, and our videos are viewed the world over.
They show a glimpse into our lives, including my release from hospital in 2020, and how I’ve adapted to my new body – learning how to shower, brush my teeth and play video games.
I’ve also had a prosthetic body made that fits over my torso, allowing me to sit up.
Over the years, I’ve had messages of support from around the globe.
Stay strong dude. You’re an inspiration to millions, one read.
While it’s amazing reading these comments, I never planned on being an inspiration.
Some days are harder than others, and what I miss most is my independence.
I’m waiting on an updated prosthetic limb, which will allow me to have a full range of motion, full movement of each finger, and will even restore some sense of touch because it hooks into neck muscles.
In February 2021, Sabia made me the happiest man in the world by becoming my wife.
With her by my side, I can tackle whatever life throws at me.
