A surgeon amputates his legs for a creepy fetish. Later, he’s shortlisted for a space program and becomes a BBC guest

Neil Hopper, a 49-year-old vascular surgeon from Cornwall, England, has been sentenced to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to insurance fraud and possession of extreme materials. The case has shocked the medical community and raised concerns among his former patients.

In April 2019, Hopper froze his lower legs using dry ice for eight hours, causing severe damage that made them no longer usable. He bought about 44 pounds of dry ice pellets through PayPal just three days before paramedics found him at home with serious injuries to his feet and legs. He was admitted to Royal Cornwall Hospital with suspected sepsis and later moved to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, where he spent several weeks in a hyperbaric chamber before his legs were cut off below the knee.

After the amputations, Hopper made false insurance claims totaling $630,000 to Aviva and Old Mutual Wealth, saying his injuries came from sepsis rather than hurting himself on purpose. He spent the money on a campervan, prosthetics, building work, home improvements, a hot tub, and a wood burner. 

According to The Guardian, two years after losing his legs, Hopper appeared in interviews with the BBC and Welsh channel S4C talking about his experience as a disabled person. The court heard that he “enjoyed the attention” the publicity brought him. His story gained so much attention that he was even shortlisted by the European Space Agency in their search for an astronaut with a disability.

The investigation links to extreme body modification website

Hopper was found during investigations into Marius Gustavson, who ran a website called the EunuchMaker. Gustavson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years at the Old Bailey in 2024 for leading an extreme body modification ring that performed castration, penis removal, and other procedures on people as young as 16. The case bears some similarities to other instances of medical professionals who deceived patients and the public, though the details are different.

Police found that Hopper had paid to access the website and sent over 5,000 messages and emails to Gustavson, including talks about cutting off both of his own legs. He revealed to Gustavson that he had amputated both of his legs because it turns him on. Later, Judge James Adkin gave him a 32-month jail sentence at Truro Crown Court and made him subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years. The court heard that Hopper would lose his home as part of the proceeds of crime proceedings.

He worked for Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust from 2013 until his suspension in March 2023 after his first arrest. He was suspended from the medical register in December 2023, and his wife is seeking a divorce. While the NHS trust said the charges did not relate to his professional conduct and there was no evidence of risk to patients, former patients have contacted medical negligence firm Enable Law with concerns about their treatment. 

The case has raised questions about whether some amputations Hopper performed may not have been medically necessary. Some former patients, including those who had amputations, are now seeking legal advice over their treatment for fear that it was not needed. The trust has opened a hotline for patients with concerns about their care. This situation is similar to other troubling cases involving surgeons whose professional judgment came under scrutiny after serious misconduct was found.