Of each the things that happened successful the fraught days aft 72-year-old Liz Spooner had her limb amputated astatine the Royal Cornwall infirmary successful Truro successful 2022, 1 representation remains vivid successful the mind of her daughter, Faye Harrison. Liz’s room had taken overmuch longer than anticipated, Faye remembers, and, delirious aft the anaesthetic and morphine, Liz had begun to garbage nutrient and medication. That’s erstwhile Faye was ushered into a broadside room pinch a advisor surgeon.
“He was smiley. He came crossed arsenic rather charming and caring,” Faye recalls. He ran done a agelong database of the medications Liz was taking, and began explaining why she needed them. “I retrieve looking down – you look down astatine the level a batch erstwhile you person these kinds of conversations – and I noticed he’d sewage metallic sticks coming retired of his trouser legs.” Faye blinks successful disbelief astatine the memory. “I thought, blimey, he’s operated connected my mum, but he’s also an amputee.”
Neil Hopper was a personage successful the world of vascular room – the master section involving veins and arteries, and truthful amputations. He had been a advisor for a decade by the clip of Liz’s operation, and had received awards for objective excellence. But successful May 2019, pursuing suspected sepsis, Hopper himself had had to acquisition double below-the-knee amputations. When he walked into the surgical theatre connected prosthetic legs successful January 2020 fresh to execute amputations connected patients again, a BBC camera unit was there to movie his heroic comeback. He talked astir his acquisition of sepsis connected the sofa of ITV’s This Morning, dressed successful shorts that proudly exposed his prosthetics. Using the grip @bionicsurgeon, he had documented his experiences arsenic a abnormal expert connected societal media. He moreover applied to the European Space Agency, hoping to beryllium the world’s first astronaut pinch a disability. He won aggregate accolades: named 1 of the coolest group successful Cornwall, and 1 of the bravest group successful Britain.
But Faye chose not to mention his legs during their 15-minute speech astir her mum. Instead, she made immoderate mini talk: noting Hopper’s Welsh accent, she declared Cornwall’s beaches to beryllium acold amended than Wales’s. It was an overseas scenario, but location was astatine slightest thing reassuring astir knowing the man caring for her mother was himself an amputee. “I retrieve thinking, God, he must person astonishing empathy.” Coming retired of the broadside room, Faye told her hubby astir the bonzer surgeon she’d conscionable met. “It’s awful, really, but I retrieve saying, ‘He’s sewage prosthetic legs – and his name’s Hopper.’ Because, successful times for illustration that, you look for thing that’s going to make you laugh.”
It had been a harrowing fewer days for Liz’s family, but the ordeal had begun a twelvemonth earlier, erstwhile she had fallen connected the formation and surgery her leg. A group person, Liz was a erstwhile caregiver who went connected to negociate a children’s location successful Birmingham for 12 years earlier settling successful Cornwall. After her husband’s decease successful 2009, she filled her days volunteering astatine the RNLI shop successful Rock. It was aft a displacement there, while stepping her dog, that Liz tripped and collapsed her near femur. It didn’t heal decently and, six months later, she had room to insert a metallic rod successful her leg, which past became infected. In July 2022, Liz was told she needed to make a choice: she could either return antibiotics for the remainder of her life, which could extremity working, aliases person her limb amputated. “Get free of that bloody leg, get free of the infection, and she’s going to beryllium each right, we thought,” Faye says.
They were expecting the process to return 5 aliases six hours, but Faye tells maine it took 11 aliases 12. Recovering connected the high-dependency unit, Liz became paranoid and delusional. She told Faye location were ghosts successful her room; that group were retired to get her; that she was being secretly filmed. “The nurses and doctors were saying this was normal aft a very large anaesthetic and each the morphine. But she was ne'er really retired of that state. She was ne'er my mum again, aft that operation.” Liz contracted hospital-acquired pneumonia and, 9 days aft her surgery, she died.
Faye says that nary 1 ever explained why her mum’s process had taken truthful overmuch longer than anticipated. If it had been shorter, she wondered, past possibly Liz wouldn’t person been truthful delirious afterwards, aliases she mightiness not person been successful infirmary for agelong capable to statement the pneumonia that killed her. But Liz had ever believed successful the NHS, and truthful does Faye – she useful arsenic an NHS reside and connection therapist. She assumed her mum had conscionable been very unlucky. “No reason to uncertainty anything,” she shrugs.
Then, 3 years aft her mother’s death, successful September 2025, Faye was listening to the news connected her thrust into work, and heard Neil Hopper’s name. He had been jailed aft pleading blameworthy to 2 counts of fraud by mendacious practice and 3 counts of possession of utmost pornography. The fraud condemnation related to claims he had made connected his wellness security aft the amputation of his legs. Hopper had not had sepsis, aft each – the injuries that caused his legs to beryllium amputated were self-inflicted. He had deliberately harmed himself, because he had an amputation fetish.
Faye felt arsenic if she was going to vomit. “Oh my God, I felt sick that he was moreover near my mum.”
Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS spot issued a statement connected the time Hopper was convicted. “We want to reassure the nationalist that our exhaustive investigations person recovered nary grounds whatsoever to bespeak immoderate consequence aliases harm to patients astatine our hospitals,” it said. But Faye was not reassured.“Who gets their ain legs amputated erstwhile there’s thing incorrect pinch them? And past to deliberation that he’d been a doctor. And past – moreover worse – a expert who does amputations connected different people.” Questions swirled astir her head. “My mum was successful that operating room a very, very agelong time. Was thing going on?”
Across Cornwall and beyond, Hopper’s erstwhile patients and their families were asking akin questions. Here was a surgeon prepared to dishonesty for years to his colleagues, his patients, the wider nationalist and his closest family astir the quality of his injuries – a man who, connected the ground of the utmost pornography he was convicted of possessing, revelled successful seeing group successful excruciating pain. How could anyone beryllium judge he ne'er posed immoderate consequence to patients?
Hopper was resolutely silent aft his apprehension successful March 2023. He replied “No comment” successful his 2 constabulary interviews; he did not speak successful court. Perhaps the top penetration into his mindset and characteristic comes from comparing his Bionic Surgeon persona pinch the truth that emerged during his criminal proceedings and his fittingness to practise tribunal. The opposition lays bare the questions that stay for Hopper’s erstwhile patients – and his erstwhile employers.
On the surface, astatine least, Hopper seemed to unrecorded a very accepted life earlier he mislaid his legs. The boy of 2 nurses, he grew up successful Aberystwyth and Swansea, and attended a backstage boarding school. He studied astatine University of Wales College of Medicine successful Cardiff, earning a first-class grade successful anatomical sciences and an honours grade successful medicine. He met his early woman astatine aesculapian school, they had a boy and a daughter, and the family went to Australia for a year, wherever Hopper worked arsenic a vascular surgeon successful Sydney, earlier returning to the UK successful 2013 to beryllium a advisor surgeon, some astatine the Royal Cornwall infirmary and astatine the Duchy, Cornwall’s only backstage hospital. “I developed a keen liking successful vascular room chiefly because it was reconstructive, nary 2 operations were the same, and having to run connected each parts of the assemblage provided the assortment to support my interest,” Hopper told the Western Mail successful 2021.
In April 2019, truthful his communicative went, Hopper and his girl became unwell during a family camping trip. “My girl sewage amended but I didn’t, truthful my family abandoned maine astatine location reasoning I had a tummy bug. I started emotion a spot achy truthful took immoderate paracetamol and went to bed,” he told Cornwall Live successful February 2020. Later, Hopper’s woman and children were distant visiting his in-laws; erstwhile his woman rang him and he “spoke gibberish” connected the telephone to her she called a friend, who went astir to cheque connected him, recovered the beforehand doorway open, and called an ambulance. “The adjacent point I retrieve is being successful intensive care,” Hopper continued. “I retrieve my feet hurting a lot.”
Hopper told doctors he’d been vomiting and had diarrhoea. He underwent extended testing, pinch aesculapian unit bewildered by the origin of his condition. In the end, they suspected sepsis. “I could spot my toes had gone bluish truthful astatine that constituent I knew wherever I was benignant of headed,” he later told the BBC; bluish tegument connected the soles of the feet is a recognised sign of sepsis. For 2 weeks, his aesculapian colleagues tried to amended the humor proviso to his legs. He was transferred from the Royal Cornwall infirmary to Derriford, a master training hospital, for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. But it was successful vain. Once amputation began to look inevitable, he said to the BBC, he “couldn’t thief but ideate the mechanics” of what it would entail. “The thought of powerfulness devices being utilized connected maine was icky.” Hopper’s toes were removed connected 10 May, and, erstwhile that wasn’t deemed enough, he opted to person some his little legs removed connected 17 May.
“I’m now a bilateral below-knee amputee, which is rather ironic, fixed my job,” Hopper declared successful the first video uploaded to his YouTube channel, six months aft his surgery; he had already started calling himself the Bionic Surgeon by then. In different video, uploaded to people his first twelvemonth arsenic an amputee, he boasted astir getting an all-expenses paid travel to Salford to beryllium connected BBC Breakfast. In early 2022, he revealed he was undergoing assessments successful Hamburg pinch the European Space Agency, successful a bid to go the world’s first para‑astronaut; he sewage down to the last 27 candidates. “When I was ill, personification told maine that I’d extremity up doing Ted Talks and each sorts, and I said perfectly not, this was ne'er going to beryllium a big portion of my life, and I’ve wholly fallen into that trap,” he chuckled connected BBC Radio Cornwall. He knew his injuries had opened up a particular benignant of opportunity for him. “My life is much absorbing because of what’s happened to me,” he told a Welsh BBC documentary crew, conscionable earlier his arrest.
But Hopper’s travel to becoming the Bionic Surgeon really began the twelvemonth earlier he mislaid his legs, pinch a very different group of videos. It was revealed during his criminal proceedings that, successful August 2018, Hopper utilized the email reside [email protected] to group up the floor plan “AdmiroDoc” connected eunuchmaker.com, a pay-per-view fetish website featuring videos of men and boys either maiming themselves aliases allowing others to mutilate them connected camera. Marius Gustavson, the Norwegian man surviving successful London who ran the site, had had his ain penis, nipple and near limb removed. Gustavson is presently serving a life condemnation for aggregate offences, including causing grievous bodily harm pinch intent.
‘I tin spot really Neil Hopper sewage into it,” says the man who was known arsenic “Michael” during Gustavson’s trial. “I don’t deliberation he conscionable sewage it into his caput 1 time to type successful ‘Eunuch Maker’ – I deliberation he was connected various fetish sites looking for much and much utmost worldly and recovered his measurement connected there. A small spot of passing interest, and past arsenic soon arsenic you’re connected that site, it becomes an echo chamber.”
Michael was the first personification to study Gustavson to the police, aft Gustavson had castrated him connected video and branded him pinch the initials “EM”. Michael had been successful a susceptible intelligence authorities and was utilizing narcotics erstwhile Gustavson mutilated him; he went to the constabulary erstwhile he was successful betterment a twelvemonth later, and realised he’d been the unfortunate of what the judge successful Gustavson’s proceedings would telephone “little much than human butchery”. “The point pinch that website is, it made each of this look perfectly normal,” Michael says.
The tract operated betwixt 14 January 2018 and 1 March 2021, during which clip Gustavson earned almost £300,000 from much than 22,800 paying users from crossed the globe. (The victims who appeared successful the videos were promised money from the revenue; Michael says his castration earned him £60, which didn’t moreover screen the costs of his travel.) In the chatrooms and connected the connection boards, members who had undergone verified castration, amputation aliases genital removal were fixed typical badges of honour. “It was a community. Very supportive, very welcoming and very enthusiastic,” Michael tells me.
“There were ever rumours of, oh, there’s an actual surgeon here, there’s an actual nurse,” he continues. There was a nurse, it transpired: Nathan Arnold, who received a suspended sentence aft he was recovered blameworthy of GBH for removing Gustavson’s nipple. And location was Hopper. “It’s perfectly horrifying to study that a advisor surgeon successful the NHS really was there.”
I americium loath to picture the videos Hopper was watching – which I learned astir erstwhile I attended his criminal tribunal proceeding via video nexus – but the wide specifications are applicable to his patients. Hopper was performing room connected them successful his master life while watching group writhing successful agony successful his backstage life; this was pornography truthful sadistic and utmost that possession of it added 10 months to the 22-month situation condemnation he received for security fraud.
The first video costs Hopper £10; it shows Gustavson castrating different man. The second, costing £35, features a man tied to a furniture while Gustavson rolls dice to determine which assemblage parts to remove; the man ended up losing his penis and testicles, and bled truthful overmuch that Gustavson called an ambulance, each pinch the camera still rolling. In a 3rd video, besides costing Hopper £35, a man cuts disconnected his ain penis and holds it up to the camera.
“I’ve watched them thousands of times,” Hopper enthusiastically messaged Gustavson connected WhatsApp, singling retired the video wherever paramedics had to beryllium called for peculiar praise.
Hopper was paying for these videos a fewer months aft operating connected a female I’ll telephone Joan. We meet successful a cafe successful westbound London; she doesn’t want maine to opportunity wherever she lives aliases usage her existent name. Joan had booked into the backstage Duchy infirmary to person a varicose vein removed successful beforehand of her daughter’s wedding. “He was the vein man astatine the Duchy,” she tells me. “He seemed very nice, really easy-going. He’s a benignant of cuddly man – somewhat overweight and jolly-looking. I warmed to him.” She thought it was going to beryllium straightforward. “My mother and 1 of my sisters had had veins removed before, and neither of them had ever had immoderate problems.”
Throughout the 30-minute procedure, Hopper was successful complaint of removing Joan’s vein and administering the anaesthetic. “I wounded a lot,” she says, fixing maine pinch her gaze. At first, she didn’t want to make a fuss. “I’m not a baby, I’m not a coward. I thought, I’ll conscionable put up pinch it until it’s over. But it sewage to the constituent wherever I couldn’t put up pinch it. I had to say, this really, really hurts.” Hopper could spot her squirming, and perceive her pleading for him to stop. He said he’d springiness her much anaesthetic, but it made nary difference. “It still wounded conscionable arsenic much. It felt for illustration he was pulling a vein retired of my limb without immoderate anaesthetic astatine all.”
After the operation, Hopper refused to fto Joan salary for it. “It was a fewer 100 pounds, and he fto maine disconnected the bill. Private doctors don’t do that – they conscionable don’t.” She shakes her head. “At the clip I thought, what a nice man – that’s truthful reasonable of him, because he had wounded maine a lot.”
Joan was alarmed to publication astir Hopper’s condemnation successful the newspaper. “It was unnerving.” She hadn’t followed the specifications of the case, and didn’t cognize astir the videos Hopper had been watching, until I told her astir them successful the broadest imaginable terms. “It makes maine consciousness physically sick. It’s beyond belief,” she says. “But I’m gladsome I know, actually: I thought I was imagining it. It felt for illustration he hadn’t utilized anaesthetic, erstwhile I had been told he had. But I nary longer cognize for judge that he did.” She shakes her head. “He was evidently deranged, and I’d been astatine his mercy.”
Ramsay Health Care UK, the genitor institution down the Duchy hospital, said it was incapable to remark connected immoderate individual episodes of diligent care. “During his play of holding practising privileges pinch Ramsay Health Care UK, nary important concerns were raised regarding Mr Hopper’s objective believe aliases immoderate consequence to diligent safety,” a spokesperson said successful a statement. “We want to reassure our patients, partners and the wider organization that we stay afloat committed to the highest standards of master behaviour and objective governance.”
Towards the extremity of 2018, Hopper messaged Gustavson asking him to hole a responsibility that meant he could nary longer watch the videos he’d bought. “Don’t worry,” Hopper yet wrote, “my tastes are much exotic these days.”
Gustavson caused his ain near limb to beryllium amputated successful February 2019. He had placed his ft successful a bucket of barren crystal for 8 hours (uploading a short video of the process to his website) earlier going to infirmary wherever his limb was yet removed beneath the knee.
By April, Hopper was asking for proposal connected really he could do the same. Gustavson sent him a integer archive pinch instructions, instrumentality lists and diagrams, telling Hopper wherever to bid the barren crystal and really to entree the acheronian web to bargain opiates for symptom relief. The prosecution successful Hopper’s proceedings based on that Hopper was not groomed: he was an adjacent and consenting participant. “Wow,” Hopper messaged Gustavson, “I’ve dreamed of this for 20 years.”
With his woman and children distant astatine his in-laws and some feet submerged successful barren ice, Hopper sent Gustavson periodic WhatsApp updates. “It’s going to beryllium awesome being a double amputee,” he wrote. Then, he sent Gustavson a photograph of his erect penis. He continued messaging Gustavson from his infirmary furniture aft the amputation, thanking him for making it each possible, and sending a photograph of his bandaged stumps, saying really “sexy” it was. “It feels truthful cool. No feet!”
Gustavson was arrested successful 2021. The constabulary investigation into his devices and communications yet led them to Hopper, who was first interviewed successful March 2023, and also a web of others successful positions of authority successful British nine who derived intersexual gratification from mutilation. Three days earlier Hopper’s tribunal hearing, erstwhile vicar Geoffrey Baulcomb was sentenced to 3 years successful situation for GBH aft maiming different man’s genitals connected camera. Michael, the man who first reported Gustavson, is convinced location are going to beryllium much arrests. “There’s going to beryllium much group discovered done this,” he says. “Are we going to person a constabulary serviceman next? A lawyer? A politician?”
It wasn’t Hopper’s fetish that led to his downfall – it was his lies. Before submitting fraudulent wellness security claims to Aviva and Old Mutual Wealth (now Quilter), Hopper had consulted friends and family – group who had nary thought his injuries were self-inflicted – astir whether he should make the applications. “I benignant of consciousness for illustration I should beverage this for arsenic overmuch arsenic possible,” he texted a friend. In a connection to his father, he wrote, “If it’s hundreds of thousands, I’ll rate it in. If it’s tens of thousands, I’ll time off it.” His full security payout was £466,653.81. He besides claimed astir £44,000 successful disablement benefits.
The security claims had some been paid by July 2019; the aforesaid month, Hopper commissioned an designer to creation an hold to his home. He spent £15,000 connected a hot tub, £3,000 connected audio instrumentality and £22,000 connected a luxury camping trailer. He posted pictures of his caller room and basking tub connected Instagram, past a month later he posted a image of the family Christmas character pinch the remark “Life ain’t bad!”. By November 2022, each the security money had been spent.
During Hopper’s trial, the prosecution accepted that Hopper had neither taken retired wellness security pinch the volition of making fraudulent claims nor stiff his feet successful bid to enrich himself; he had made the claims because not claiming mightiness look suspicious. His information for harming himself, they argued, was sexual, not financial.
Hopper’s defence squad presented a different explanation. His defence barrister told the tribunal that Hopper had suffered from lifelong gender dysphoria, arsenic good arsenic assemblage dysmorphia, which manifested successful a loathing for his feet. “They felt for illustration an unwelcome extra.” He had tried to capable his life pinch family and work, but could not quiet the “constant noise” and “persisting, never-ending discomfort” caused by the thought of his feet. (Gustavson’s ineligible squad had made akin arguments astatine Gustavson’s trial: that he had assemblage integrity upset and had simply been offering a work to others for illustration him.) But the intersexual content, some successful the videos Hopper watched and successful the connection he sent Gustavson while he was harming himself, are undeniable. Hopper was aroused by what he saw, and what he did.
“He does not regret the facts of the amputations – he had wanted it for 20 years – but he regrets the dishonesty and falsehood,” his barrister continued. Appealing to the judge earlier sentencing, the barrister informed the tribunal that Hopper’s woman had near him. He asked for a suspended sentence, noting that Hopper would beryllium everlastingly recognisable, but would nary longer garner immoderate nationalist sympathy. He publication retired a connection from Hopper: “My thoughts and behaviours person not had immoderate effect connected my job,” it read. “I worked very difficult and ever tried my champion for my patients.”
After Hopper received his condemnation – 32 months successful situation positive a 10-year intersexual harm prevention bid – the Royal Cornwall hospitals spot said their investigations had revealed “no grounds whatsoever to bespeak immoderate risk” to Hopper’s patients. But erstwhile Hopper’s fittingness to practise was assessed astatine a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing successful May this year, which looked astatine whether Hopper should beryllium allowed to proceed arsenic a doctor, the tribunal recovered “an highly precocious level of seriousness and consequence successful this case, and that Dr Hopper has not demonstrated immoderate meaningful penetration aliases remediation into the effect of his behaviour connected nationalist protection”. Recommending that he beryllium struck disconnected the aesculapian register, Robert Dudley, connected behalf of the GMC, said: “The doctor’s master life cannot beryllium separated from his individual behaviours.”
The tribunal took spot virtually, complete Microsoft Teams, pinch Hopper representing himself. He rang successful from prison, his spot successful the proceeding marked by a redacted telephone number connected a grey rectangle. When he gave his last statement, his sound was thin, reedy and afloat of self-pity.
“I’m uncovering this alternatively difficult,” he began. “I americium presently successful situation for these crimes, and I person ne'er denied work aliases guilt for them.” (He did, however, opportunity “No comment” successful his constabulary interviews; he could person done considerably much to thief guarantee that justness was done.) “I attended this tribunal successful bid to beryllium that I understood the seriousness of the allegations and to look them. I had the opportunity to hide away, but, sloppy of what group mightiness deliberation of me, I person principles.” He said he was “a personification of heavy reflection and conscience” and that it had “taken maine ages to travel to position pinch what I’ve done”. Not erstwhile did he mention his erstwhile patients, aliases the profound distress he mightiness person caused them. He was struck disconnected connected 29 May.
‘Not a surprise,” says Mike Bird, partner and master successful aesculapian claims astatine Enable Law, erstwhile I speak to him a fewer days aft the tribunal gave its verdict. “What worries maine is that there’s a immense discrepancy betwixt the cognition of really superior this was by the spot wherever he worked, connected the 1 hand, and the regulator of the profession, connected the other. The spot concluded location was nary consequence to the nationalist – and they said that after he’d been convicted – whereas the MPTS and the GMC said location were highly precocious levels of risk.”
Bird says his patient has had astir 20 superior inquiries from Hopper’s erstwhile patients. “There hasn’t been a long statement of group saying, ‘I’ve had my limb amputated and I judge it was inappropriately done,’” he tells me; a important proportionality of amputees are elderly, and galore of Hopper’s erstwhile patients whitethorn person already died. “Of those who’ve contacted us, immoderate person felt a sense of betrayal aliases moreover a emotion of battle because of what they now deliberation was going connected successful his mind erstwhile he was treating them. They are questioning whether the decisions he made astir their curen were appropriate, whether they were motivated by his ain intersexual gratification alternatively than objective need.” It’s overmuch harder to declare damages for psychological trauma compared pinch beingness injuries. “The rule doesn’t ever travel reality,” Bird says.
In consequence to a state of accusation request, the Royal Cornwall hospitals spot has released the study it commissioned connected Hopper’s caseload, an investigation the spot described successful the connection it gave to the property connected the time of Hopper’s conviction as “exhaustive”, “comprehensive” and conducted by “an independent objective expert”. “It’s done by personification who’s not an master successful the field, personification who is not independent of the trust. He’s not talked to different colleagues, different unit aliases immoderate patients: he’s looked astatine the aesculapian records of 30 patients,” Bird says. The attraction was connected procedures that took spot betwixt 1 August 2018 and 31 October 2020, years earlier Faye’s mother, Liz, had her surgery.
“It’s a very brief, very superficial reactive consequence to a situation business – and it’s not enough,” Bird continues. “When I’ve spoken to patients who subsequently contacted us, they person said, ‘Is this not the spot marking its ain homework?’ Where’s the independence? Where’s the rigour? When thing for illustration this happens, why did the spot not instantly spell to NHS England aliases the Royal College of Surgeons and say, ‘Please thief america activity retired what’s happened’?”
“Our privilege from the opening has been to analyse Mr Hopper’s actions truthful that we tin reassure patients location is nary grounds of consequence aliases harm to them,” a spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS spot said successful consequence to this article. “RCHT carried out clinical reviews of each amputation room carried out by Mr Hopper astatine our hospitals complete a two‑year play specified by constabulary investigators. These formed portion of the constabulary investigation process. Our investigations recovered nary grounds to bespeak immoderate consequence aliases harm to patients.”
The RCHT added that analyzable vascular room is ever managed by a squad of healthcare professionals, and is ne'er the determination of 1 surgeon. “We person received reassurance connected vascular surgical outcomes betwixt 2013 and 2023 from the National Vascular Registry, who analysed our information for that period, and said further study would not adhd worth to this case.”
David Parker was 1 of the first patients Hopper operated connected aft he came backmost to activity connected prosthetic legs. He was intelligibly still getting utilized to them: David says erstwhile they first met for his consultation, Hopper “fell successful the doorway and fell into his chair”. But it was winter, and Hopper was wearing agelong trousers alternatively of shorts, truthful David had nary thought his surgeon was an amputee. He only realised a twelvemonth aliases truthful later, erstwhile he saw a documentary connected location television. “It was saying what a leader he was, still doing his occupation aft having his legs removed.”
By that time, David didn’t see Hopper to beryllium a hero. He’d had a process to unblock an artery successful his neck; Hopper had assured him it would beryllium straightforward and shouldn’t return much than 1 aliases 2 hours, but it ended up taking an full day. David remembers waking up during room and being astir pushed backmost down connected to the operating table. Ever since he came retired of theatre six years ago, he has suffered debilitating nervus pain. He has spent each his status savings connected backstage physiotherapy, to small avail.
“The time aft the surgery, Mr Hopper came and sat connected the broadside of my bed. The first point he said to maine was, ‘Do you retrieve thing from yesterday?’ And I said, ‘Well, I retrieve waking up.’ He said, ‘No, no, that didn’t happen. That’s astir apt conscionable the anaesthetic playing tricks connected your mind.’ I ne'er saw him again.”
David says he has since had it confirmed by different unit coming during the process astatine the Royal Cornwall infirmary that he did aftermath up during surgery. He has been trying to activity retired really he came to beryllium injured ever since, pinch years of emails and travel up meetings. Once the news of Hopper’s condemnation broke, David says, “My case made a batch much sense. Something happened successful the room that day, which I’m still surviving with.” The nervus harm could person occurred during the process connected his vein aliases erstwhile he was pushed down connected to the operating table. David accepts he whitethorn ne'er beryllium capable to find out.
He doesn’t judge the trust’s assertion that Hopper ne'er posed immoderate consequence to patients. “I can’t ideate a man pinch truthful galore psychological problems being capable to do a room and put each his individual life to 1 side. It conscionable wouldn’t happen, would it?” He sighs.
“Professionals tin talk astir his master life – I’ll talk astir his backstage life,” Michael says erstwhile I put this to him. “At the clip that I was connected that website, it was perpetually location successful my mind. It colours everything. It takes years to get it retired of your system. If you’re looking astatine that benignant of stuff, and it’s the aforesaid worldly you’re doing astatine activity day-to-day – I’d find it very difficult to compartmentalise. I don’t deliberation it’d beryllium possible.”
It is the ne'er knowing – the lifelong, gnawing uncertainty – that is the root of ongoing trauma for Hopper’s former patients and their families. They cognize 1 point for sure: they had a expert who was consistently, and criminally, dishonest.
The sanction of the surgeon who operated connected Faye’s mother was not revealed successful the inquest into her death. Even though she had a consultation pinch him aft Liz’s operation, Faye had ne'er been definite that Hopper had performed the amputation. When she precocious contacted the Royal Cornwall infirmary for confirmation, she was told that, contempt her vivid memories of her consultation pinch him, location was “… nary grounds of Mr Hopper being progressive astatine immoderate stage” successful Liz’s care.
In consequence to inquiries from the Guardian, the Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS spot says Liz’s aesculapian records show that Hopper was not successful theatre for the amputation of her leg, and that process only took 3 and a half hours, not the 11 aliases 12 that Faye claims it did.
Faye has matter messages she sent to family members during her mum’s room informing them that the process was taking acold longer than the 5 hours they had primitively anticipated. She says she intelligibly remembers many times ringing the infirmary during the room to inquire why her mother still hadn’t travel out of it, and being told by unit that her mother’s delirious authorities was owed to her having specified a lengthy procedure.
“I conscionable don’t look to beryllium getting thing backmost from the infirmary that’s correct,” Faye sighs. “Things happened that I cognize for a truth happened. I cognize I met Neil Hopper. I cognize he was progressive successful my mum’s care. I don’t cognize whether he’s conscionable lied and covered his tracks, and truthful the infirmary is going by what they’ve got.”
“He whitethorn good person been progressive – he conscionable whitethorn not person made notes,” says Bird. “He lied to his aesculapian master colleagues. The aesculapian records he did make – why would they beryllium right? They were written by a proven liar.” It’s different reason, Bird says, that immoderate reappraisal into Hopper’s activity that’s based connected aesculapian notes unsocial is inadequate.
Hopper was told he must service astatine slightest 40% of his sentence, truthful he will beryllium eligible for merchandise from situation wrong the adjacent fewer months. The criminal proceedings focused only connected the charges he could beryllium prosecuted pinch – fraud and possession of utmost pornography – and not the deception of colleagues, patients, and his woman and children, nor the psychological harm he has caused to the group who put their lives and bodies successful his hands. While these things are profoundly wrong, they are not needfully crimes.
“He hasn’t been punished for what he’s done to patients,” says Faye. “I conscionable garbage to judge that location weren’t ulterior motives down the operations he carried out.” The ongoing doubts person made it harder for her to grieve, she says. She wants to person her mother’s pictures connected the walls, but can’t look the imaginable of going done Liz’s aged photographs, which stay successful a container successful Faye’s loft.
Faye wants the spot to committee an independent enquiry into Hopper, investigating not only whether amputations he performed were needlessly done, but besides his behaviour during his operations – whether his procedures were prolonged, drawn retired aliases different inappropriately carried out. “It’s horrific that location hasn’t been an independent audit from NHS England aliases the Royal College of Surgeons. Why hasn’t location been a afloat independent inquiry?”
When we first met, Faye had been successful 2 minds astir whether aliases not to speak retired astir what happened to her mother. She had feared that, if Liz’s wider family and galore friends publication astir her relationship to Hopper, they would beryllium horrified. “I don’t want them to spell done what I’ve been through,” she’d said. But past she thought astir what Liz would want. “She cared astir fairness and justice, and making judge group faced up to things. If she were live today, I cognize what she would say. She’d say, ‘Go get that effing bastard.’”
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