The daughter of a woman who was treated by a disgraced NHS surgeon who allegedly lied about having sepsis in order to have his own legs amputated for sexual gratification has spoken out about the moment she met him at her mother's bedside, describing him as "smiley" and "charming" before the truth about his conduct eventually emerged.
Neil Hopper was once a respected vascular surgeon who became a recognisable public figure after appearing on This Morning to discuss how he claimed a serious illness had resulted in the loss of both his legs below the knee. He used the social media handle @bionicsurgeon, shared his experiences online and even applied to the European Space Agency in the hope of becoming its first disabled astronaut.
However, the story later unravelled. Hopper was arrested in March 2023 and subsequently faced two fraud charges and three charges relating to possession of extreme pornography. The material was connected to a figure known as the "Eunuch Maker," who was jailed after carrying out extreme procedures on men who claimed to have consented for fetish purposes. It emerged that Hopper's amputations in 2019, which he had publicly attributed to suspected sepsis, had in fact been obtained fraudulently.
Before his arrest, Hopper had operated on 72-year-old Liz Spooner at Royal Cornwall Hospital, removing one of her legs. Her daughter Faye Harrison has now spoken to The Guardian about the experience of meeting Hopper at her mother's bedside during her recovery.
Faye described him as coming across as caring and charming, and recalled noticing his prosthetic legs during what was already an emotionally difficult conversation. At the time, she found his own experience of amputation reassuring. "I thought, blimey, he's operated on my mum, but he's also an amputee," she said, adding that she viewed his disability as something that gave him "amazing empathy" for patients in similar situations.
What troubled Faye, however, was the length of the operation. She had been told to expect a procedure lasting around five or six hours. It ultimately took eleven. The family was never given an explanation for why it ran so long, and Faye says her mother was never the same afterward, experiencing significant confusion and delirium. Liz died several days later after developing pneumonia.
Three years later, Faye learned of Hopper's arrest and said she felt physically sick knowing he had been involved in her mother's care. "I just refuse to believe that there weren't ulterior motives behind the operations he carried out," she said, also questioning whether his conduct toward patients had ever been properly examined. "He hasn't been punished for what he's done to patients," she added.
