We tend to cover a lot of weird stories around here, but some of them stand out even in comparison to all the rest. The weird cream of the weird crop. This story is among the rarefied few that stand head and shoulders above the rest of the weird stories.
It’s all about a guy named Neil Hopper in Cornwall, England. Neil is an inspirational figure. He is a respected vascular surgeon despite being a double amputee. But, according to police, he might also be a fraud with a disturbing extracurricular interest in DIY surgery.
The 49-year-old surgeon made headlines after losing both legs in 2019, claiming that sepsis was to blame.
A few years later, Hopper gave an interview to the BBC, during which he brought up, without prompting, his fear of power tools being used during amputations. “The thought of power tools being used on me was icky. It was really weird,” he said.
Okay. Sure, man. No one asked. But sure. I can get behind that.
His inspirational tale became so prevalent in the UK that he was even shortlisted by the European Space Agency as a potential astronaut with a disability. The guy was turning into a regular Sully Sullenberger, just a regular person doing their job to the best of their ability, until one day their routine of being good at what they do met the perfect circumstances that elevated them to the point of heroism.
But behind the scenes, the situation was allegedly far more dubious. After a 2 ½ year investigation, police from Cornwall and the nearby town of Devon officially charged Hopper with two counts of fraud and one count of encouraging grievous bodily harm.
Cops allege that Hopper faked the sepsis story to secure insurance payouts totaling over £466,000. And now for the disturbing part: between August 2018 and December 2020, he was involved with a website called “The Eunuch Maker,” where he allegedly bought videos of limb removals and encouraged another man, a guy named Marius Gustavson, to amputate other people’s body parts.
All of this is tagged with “allegedly” since it’s still going through the legal system, and nothing has been definitively proven by a court of law. Hopper hasn’t entered a plea yet and is currently in custody awaiting his next court appearance.
The hospital in which Hopper worked from 2013 until his suspension in 2023 says there’s no evidence that patients were ever in jeopardy under his care. They have, however, opened a hotline just in case there are any former patients out there with concerns about how they were treated by Hopper. If you’re one of those patients, you can reach them at 01872 25 2793, or by email at [email protected].
Typically, you want to live a life in which you don’t have a tipline phone number associated with you.
The charges aren’t necessarily about his professional performance, but it does paint a picture of a horrifying double life that will surely make the rounds on the true crime podcasting circuit.
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