How I fell for jailed amputee surgeon Neil Hopper’s sepsis lie | UK News

When I interviewed surgeon Neil Hopper in 2023 for News, I believed I was speaking to a man who had been humbled by the life-changing experience of losing his legs to sepsis.

Little did I know, Hopper had a sexual interest in amputation and had frozen his own legs so they would be removed.

Hopper, a consultant vascular surgeon who had carried out hundreds of amputation operations, told me he had come down with a mystery illness on a family camping trip which had led to sepsis and below-knee amputations of both his legs.

In reality, he had used ice and dry ice to freeze his own legs, causing damage that meant they eventually had to be amputated in hospital.

Watching him being jailed on Thursday it was hard to reconcile the reflective man I had interviewed in my capacity as a journalist, with the often graphic details heard in court.

When I interviewed him, I had not doubted the version of events he had told me for one moment. He was a respected surgeon, and why would anyone lie about such a thing?

Warning: Contains information some readers may find upsetting

Back in 2023 Hopper, who grew up in Aberystwyth and Swansea and was living in Truro, Cornwall, appeared almost grateful for the opportunity his life-changing surgery had given him to reassess his life.

“You have to make a lot of sacrifices to be a surgeon and family time is one of them,” the father-of-two told me. “I know that was a mistake.”

He seemed relaxed, at peace, like a man who had gone through something horrific but had come out the other side changed for the better.

He said losing his legs had led him to “audit” his life and try new things, including applying to become Nasa’s first disabled astronaut.

He told me he passed the medical and made it to the final 27 applicants but the space agency eventually selected Paralympic sprinter John McFall.

“My life is more interesting because of what’s happened to me,” he insisted.

He also praised his wife.

“This didn’t happen to me, it happened to us,” he said.

The truth behind his amputations was finally laid bare in court on Thursday.

Having his legs amputated was a long-standing ambition for Hopper, the court was told. He had both an obsession and a sexual interest in removing parts of his own body.

The court heard how he had suffered body dysphoria since childhood and his feet were an “unwelcome extra” and a “persisting never-ending discomfort”.

For some time, Hopper had been paying to access videos of body mutilation.

The court heard he had bought three videos from the website for £10 and £35, respectively, showing men willingly having their genitals removed.

He also exchanged about 1,500 messages with Marius Gustavson, an amputee who ran the website.

Some of the messages were Hopper seeking advice from Gustavson about how he had brought about his own lower leg amputation.

In one message Hopper told Gustavson: “I’ve dreamt of this for 20 years.”

In another he wrote: “It’s going to be awesome being a double amputee.”

After his amputations he sent him another message: “It feels so cool. No feet!”

Hopper returned to work for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust just six months after his amputations.

He went on to make fraudulent claims from two insurance firms, lying that the injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and not self-inflicted.

During this time he messaged a friend to say he felt he should “milk this as much as possible”.

The money – totalling more than £466,000 – was quickly spent on luxury items including home improvements, a campervan and a hot tub.

Hopper’s unique insight as an amputee who carried out amputation operations, as well as his bid to go into space garnered plenty of media attention.

“He enjoyed the attention that this generated,” the court was told.

It was the police investigation into Gustavson that would be Hopper’s undoing.

Gustavson was jailed for life in 2024 for leading an extreme body modification ring.

Hopper was arrested in March 2023 and has been suspended from the medical register since December 2023.

On Thursday he was jailed for two years and eight months for insurance fraud and possessing extreme pornography. The court heard Hopper did not regret the operations, but “bitterly regrets” the “dishonesty” about their cause.

When news of the charges against Hopper broke in July, I was shocked.

Then I was confused – what exactly was he accused of doing? And why would someone inflict those injuries on themself?

Then I was concerned. Was I wrong to have taken what he told me at face value?

Fact-checking is an essential part of journalism, but on the face of it this did not appear to be a difficult story to confirm.

I was communicating with Hopper through his place of work, his work as a surgeon was well-documented, and his bilateral amputations were plain to see.

In court Hopper’s case was described as “very unique”, a “saga” and “difficult to comprehend”.

He had managed to pull the wool over the eyes of medics, two insurance companies, and those who knew him – who expressed shock in character references read to the court.

Remembering my conversation with Hopper while watching his sentencing on Thursday, it was clear that as a journalist you never quite know where a story will take you.