The story of Neil Hopper has shocked and stunned, with the former vascular surgeon currently serving a 32-month sentence after he had his own legs purposefully amputated and tried to defraud insurers out of £446,000 ($631,000).
As well as pleading guilty to the above, Hopper also admitted to three charges of possessing extreme pornographic videos, linked to an extreme body modification site known as Eunuch Maker. The site was known to host videos featuring the castration of males as young as 16, with the court hearing that Hopper had a "sexual interest in amputation."
After being suspended from the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust in March 2023, Hopper was charged in July of this year. Some former patients have already raised their concerns that they might've been given unnecessary surgery, with a legal firm representing them now demanding a full and public investigation.
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In the aftermath of a shocking interview resurfacing where Hopper recounted how his legs had to be amputated when they became infected with sepsis, more details have emerged.
Notably, Judge James Adkin was told how Hopper purposefully damaged his legs with ice and dry ice as a way to have them amputated. There's no denying the work that Hopper did for raising awareness of those who've faced amputation, with him even winning the Against All Odds title at the Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons 2020. Still, his story is now painted in a very different light, with some taking to social media to share their condolences with his family.
A look online shows that his Instagram account of @bionicsurgeon is active (at the time of writing), giving a concerning look into the life that he portrayed in front of the truth.
Hopper's most recent post is from January 2023, showing off what looks like a robot hoover. A recent comment on the post reads: "If this guys [sic] wife is still with him she needs to lock this page down considering today's news. Her kids do not deserve the exposure."
Other posts are being slowly hit with comments, and in another where he shared an 'Ask me Anything' about life as an amputee, someone else wrote: "Why did you purposefully cause the amputation of your legs?"
One comment on a picture of one of his kids states: "Someone needs to set this account to private for the children’s sake."
With numerous pictures of Hopper's family life and of him with his children, it seems many are concerned about the hate the page could soon face unless it's set to private.
Barrister Andrew Langdon KC claims his client grew up in a rural Welsh village and felt he was 'in the wrong body' from a young age. Hopper apparently had "persistent, never-ending” thoughts about having his legs amputated, eventually putting his feet in dry ice for eight hours while his family was away. Langdon says Hopper's wife now wants a divorce, and he'll probably lose his home while accepting that his medical career is over. Quoting Hopper, the barrister said: "My thoughts and behaviour have not have any effect on my job. I worked very hard and always tried my best for my patients."