A respected UK surgeon who amputated hundreds of patients’ limbs had his own legs severed off for twisted reasons.
Neil Hopper, 49, of Truro, Cornwall, was accused of having his legs amputated for a combination of reasons, including “greed.”
He claimed he “bitterly regrets” his “dishonesty” but does not regret losing his legs.
A UK surgeon who amputated hundreds of patients’ limbs is behind bars for intentionally having his own legs removed
Highlights
- Neil Hopper, 49, had his legs amputated out of "greed" for insurance money and for “s**ual gratification.”
- The UK surgeon submerged his own legs for eight hours in a combination of ice and dry ice so that doctors would have no choice but to amputate his legs.
- Neil had body dysphoria and considered his feet an “unwelcome extra,” said defense lawyer Andrew Langdon.
Image credits: bionicsurgeon
Trigger warning: this article contains graphic details that may be distressing to some.
Disturbing details about Neil's fetish for body mutilation also came to light as part of the investigation.
The disgraced surgeon had pocketed thousands of pounds after falsely claiming his leg injuries were caused by sepsis.
Image credits: bionicsurgeon
He made fraudulent claims to two insurance companies, which gave him total payouts amounting to £466,000 ($628,250). However, investigators found that the injuries were self-inflicted.
In May 2019, Neil submerged his own legs for eight hours in a combination of ice and dry ice so that when he finally reached the hospital, doctors would have no choice but to amputate his legs. And his plan worked exactly that way.
His legs were amputated, and he went on to claim to insurance companies that his injuries were caused by “sepsis.”
Neil submerged his own legs for eight hours in a combination of ice and dry ice before doctors amputated them
Image credits: bionicsurgeon
It was said in court that Neil liked the attention he got from family, friends, and the media after having his legs amputated.
He went on to become somewhat of a hero, winning the Against All Odds title at the Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons 2020.
Image credits: bionicsurgeon
The doctor even “enjoyed” the media attention and appeared on TV on different occasions, prosecutor Nicholas Lee said.
Further chilling details came to light when investigators began looking into Neil's connection with Marius Gustavson, who ran a website called EunuchMaker, which featured extreme adult videos connected to body mutilations.
The vascular surgeon is also facing charges related to buying extreme videos featuring body mutilation
Image credits: Devon & Cornwall Police
Neil bought three videos from the website for £10 to £35, which reportedly captured men willingly having their private parts removed.
The surgeon also spoke to Marius about the idea of amputating his own lower leg.
They exchanged about 1,500 messages on how the amputation could be done and how Neil could use dry ice.
Image credits: Neil Hopper
“His motivations were a combination of obsession with removing parts of his own body and a s**ual interest in doing so,” prosecutor Lee said.
“It seems to have been a long-standing ambition of his,” he added.
“His motivations were a combination of obsession with removing parts of his own body and a s**ual interest in doing so,” the prosecutor said
Image credits: bionicsurgeon
The vascular surgeon pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud by false representation and three charges of possessing extreme p****graphic images.
He was sentenced to prison for 22 months for the fraud charges and another 10 months for the extreme images charges.
Image credits: bionicsurgeon
Since he was a child, Neil had experienced body dysphoria and considered his feet an “unwelcome extra,” said defense lawyer Andrew Langdon.
Andrew said Neil’s feet gave him a “persisting never-ending discomfort” over the years.
After the amputation, the once-respected surgeon was “totally overwhelmed by support from friends and family, which made it even more difficult to tell them what had really happened,” the lawyer added.
Neil experienced body dysphoria and had considered his feet an “unwelcome extra” since childhood
Image credits: bionicsurgeon
Neil embraced his life with prosthetics and went back to work less than six months after his legs were removed.
However, his name was struck from the medical register in December 2023 in light of the charges against him.
Image credits: bionicsurgeon
Some of Neil’s former patients are now wondering whether their amputations were truly necessary. They are reportedly in touch with a South West-based medical negligence firm.
“This is such a serious situation that there must be a rigorous public investigation,” said Mike Bird, partner at Enable Law.
Neil's former patient, who underwent an amputation in 2022, spoke about what the surgeon was like
Image credits: bionicsurgeon
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, where Neil used to work from 2013 until his March 2023 arrest, asserted that the charges were serious but not related to his professional conduct.
Neil’s former patient Jason Abbot, 38, said he went to the doctor to treat the painful arthritis in his ankle.
Image credits: Neil Hopper
Jason said he had no concerns about his November 2022 amputation and spoke positively about the care Neil provided.
“He was great, very supportive of the situation, [he gave] me loads of information about it and told me to have a really good think about it and I did,” he told the BBC.
He was stunned to discover that the doctor had been convicted.
“I never thought he would do anything like that,” he said.
“How happy he looked after the operation,” one commenter wrote online
