A man who was left with nothing below his waist and only one hand after a building accident says his loyal dog never leaves his side.

Former construction worker Loren Schauers, 20, was miraculously saved by doctors after falling 50ft from a bridge and getting crushed by a forklift in September 2019.

The young labourer from Great Falls in Montana, US made the brave decision to let medics perform hemicorperectomy surgery – where everything below his waist was amputated to save his life.

It was a decision Loren's family did not take lightly through fear he would resent them for keeping him alive without his body as he once knew it.

He made it easier for them however when he awoke in hospital to ask his sister to keep him alive even if he was just a "head on a plate".

In a touching tribute to his dog Atlas, Loren revealed just how much his four-legged pal does for him at home which they share with his wife Sabia Reiche and two cats.

Speaking during a live stream on the couple's popular YouTube channel, Loren explained to viewers that Atlas was "crying because he sees that I'm in pain".

He continued: "Yeah it's actually really cute, we should do a video of it but yeah Atlas whenever I'm up in my wheelchair or I'm not moving, he'll be right by me. Always, sitting right next to me."

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Loren turned to Atlas to say: "Ain't that right buddy?"

Sabia, 23, whose surname Loren has decided to take as his own, added: "As soon as Loren is out of bed, Atlas is like in protective mode and is at his side, like 'this is my human'."

In the video, German shepherd Atlas dons a colourful bandana around his collar which Sabia insists is quite loose fitting despite appearances.

The couple went on to explain Atlas' neck rolls are around three fingers big before smothering him with affectionate strokes.

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Bizarrely, not everyone believes Loren's harrowing story. Some internet oddballs spewing a conspiracy theory that alleges he digitally edits out his missing body parts in an "elaborate scam".

Sabia explained that the scepticism was not just a few throwaway remarks on their YouTube videos, but an entire social media thread had been created in an attempt to debunk the couple as frauds.

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"There's people out there that think we're using CGI to make Loren's limbs disappear and that it's all one big scam," Sabia said.

Loren previously addressed a "disrespectful" question which he and Sabia are sick of being asked.

He said in Q&A stream: "A question we get repeatedly is how do we have sex and how do we become intimate.

"That is a very personal question that we are never going to answer or allude to as it's very disrespectful."

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