Neil Hopper, a former NHS vascular surgeon, was sentenced to 32 months in prison in September 2025 after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation and three counts of possession of extreme pornography. His conviction revealed that the double below-knee amputations he had publicly attributed to sepsis were actually self-inflicted, driven by an amputation fetish. Hopper had continued to perform amputations on patients at the Royal Cornwall Hospital and the Duchy private hospital in Truro, all while concealing the true nature of his injuries from colleagues, patients, and his own family.
Hopper's double life as the 'Bionic Surgeon'
Before his arrest in March 2023, Hopper had cultivated a public persona as a heroic disabled doctor. After his amputations in May 2019, he returned to the operating theatre in January 2020, with a BBC camera crew documenting his comeback. He appeared on ITV's This Morning, wore shorts to display his prosthetics, and used the social media handle @bionicsurgeon. He even applied to the European Space Agency, reaching the final 27 candidates in a bid to become the world's first para-astronaut. His story earned him accolades, including being named one of the coolest people in Cornwall and one of the bravest people in Britain.
However, his criminal trial exposed a darker reality. In August 2018, Hopper had set up a profile called 'AdmiroDoc' on eunuchmaker.com, a pay-per-view fetish website run by Marius Gustavson, who is now serving a life sentence for causing grievous bodily harm. Hopper paid for videos showing men mutilating themselves, including one where a man bled so profusely that an ambulance was called. In WhatsApp messages, Hopper told Gustavson, 'I've watched them thousands of times,' and described his 'tastes are more exotic these days.'
Self-inflicted injuries and fraudulent claims
Hopper's path to amputation began in April 2019 when he submerged both feet in dry ice, following instructions from Gustavson. He sent Gustavson updates from his hospital bed, calling his bandaged stumps 'sexy' and writing, 'It feels so cool. No feet!' He later claimed on his health insurance to Aviva and Old Mutual Wealth (now Quilter), receiving a total payout of £466,653.81. He also claimed around £44,000 in disability benefits. The insurance money was spent on a hot tub, a luxury camping trailer, and home improvements, with Hopper posting pictures on Instagram with the caption 'Life ain't bad!'.
His defence barrister told the court that Hopper had suffered from lifelong gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia, which manifested in a loathing for his feet. However, the prosecution argued that his motivation was sexual, not financial, and that he had made the insurance claims because not claiming might look suspicious. The judge accepted this, and the fraud conviction was based on the false claims.
Patients and families demand answers
Faye Harrison, whose mother Liz Spooner died nine days after a leg amputation at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in 2022, said she felt sick when she heard the news of Hopper's conviction. She recalled meeting Hopper after her mother's surgery, noticing his prosthetic legs, and thinking he must have 'amazing empathy.' But now she questions whether Hopper was involved in her mother's care, despite the trust saying there is no record of his involvement. The trust maintains that Liz's procedure took only three and a half hours, not the 11 or 12 hours Faye claims.
Another patient, David Parker, who had a procedure to unblock an artery in his neck, said he woke up during surgery and was roughly pushed back down. He has suffered debilitating nerve pain ever since. He said, 'Something happened in the surgery that day, which I'm still living with.' He does not believe the trust's assertion that Hopper never posed a risk to patients.
Trust investigations questioned
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has stated that its 'exhaustive investigations' found 'no evidence whatsoever to indicate any risk or harm to patients.' However, Mike Bird, a partner at Enable Law representing about 20 former patients, criticized the review as 'superficial' and 'not enough.' He noted that the independent clinical expert was not independent of the trust, and the review only looked at medical records of 30 patients, not all of Hopper's cases. The trust responded that complex vascular surgery is always managed by a team, and that the National Vascular Registry has provided reassurance on outcomes.
Struck off and facing release
In May 2025, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) struck Hopper off the medical register, finding 'an extremely high level of seriousness and risk' and that he had not demonstrated 'any meaningful insight.' Robert Dudley, on behalf of the GMC, said, 'The doctor's professional life cannot be separated from his personal behaviours.' Hopper, who represented himself via video link from prison, expressed self-pity but did not mention his former patients. He is eligible for release after serving 40% of his sentence, which could be within the next few months.
Faye Harrison is calling for an independent inquiry into Hopper's conduct, saying, 'It's horrific that there hasn't been an independent audit from NHS England or the Royal College of Surgeons. Why hasn't there been a full independent inquiry?' She believes her mother would have wanted her to speak out: 'She'd say, 'Go get that effing bastard.''
