A British vascular surgeon who told insurers he’d had his legs amputated due to sepsis has been charged with fraud – after he’d claimed nearly £500 000 from Arriva Group ( £235 622), and Old Mutual (£231 031).
Neil Hopper (49), who carried out hundreds of amputations before having his own legs removed below the knees, told insurers that the leg injuries were the “result of sepsis and were not self-inflicted”, intending to make a gain.
The Independent reports that he has also been charged with encouraging someone else to remove the body parts of others.
Hopper appeared before Cornwall Magistrate’s Court last week charged with two counts of fraud by false representation, and a charge of encouraging or assisting in the commission of grievous bodily harm.
It is alleged that between 3 June and 26 June 2019, he had dishonestly made a false representation to insurers, and that between 21 August 2018 and 4 December 2020, he had bought videos from The EunuchMaker website showing the removal of limbs, which “encouraged (website ringleader) Marius Gustavson to remove body parts of third parties”.
He was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on 26 August.
In 2020, Hopper was named one of the bravest people in Britain after winning the Against All Odds title at the Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons 2020, in a virtual ceremony hosted by BBC Breakfast.
At the time, speaking of his experience of having his legs amputated, he said: “I do quite a lot of amputations, and the one thing that kept going around in my mind was power tools, because you use power tools.
“The thought of power tools being used on me was icky. It was really weird.”
After his surgery, he decided to pursue his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut and made the European Space Agency’s shortlist for a para-astronaut, but was later eliminated from the process.
Hopper has not worked at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust since March 2023, and the charges are not connected to his work, the trust said.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service’s interim orders tribunal placed restrictions on his practice the following month while the General Medical Council investigated, and he has been suspended from the medical register since December 2023.
A hospital trust spokesperson said Hopper worked at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals from 2013 until he was suspended from duty in March 2023, after his initial arrest.
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