Surgeon Accused of Getting His Own Legs Cut Off for Insurance Reasons

A British surgeon has been accused of having his legs amputated to fraudulently claim insurance money, The Guardian reports.

But this story has another gruesome twist: the doctor was the client of Marius Gustavson, named the “eunuch maker,” who ran a website filled with videos and images of castrations and other extreme body modifications that people could purchase.

Vascular surgeon Neil Hopper was accused by Devon and Cornwall law enforcement of cutting off his own legs, lying that his condition was due to sepsis, and for filing insurance claims on his “injury” in an attempt to collect more than $600,000.

Hopper chronicled his recovery from the amputations on his personal YouTube channel and even got interviewed by British broadcasters about his “plight,” positing him as an inspirational story about overcoming something tragic and returning to the operating room.

People dubbed him “brave” or “the bionic surgeon” on account of his advanced prosthetics.

Investigators also accused Hopper, who had performed hundreds of amputations on patients during his surgical career, of buying extreme videos from and “encouraging” his alleged co-conspirator, Gustavson, to cut off body parts of willing participants.

Gustavson specialized in amputating body parts — penises, testicles, nipples, legs and other parts — and uploaded footage of the operations to a website for paying customers.

He also traded in body parts; he reportedly kept bits and pieces of humans in jars, stowed away in his fridge, according to The Guardian.

As for Hopper, the double amputee surgeon, investigators appear to still be probing this bizarre case; the hospital where he worked at is asking for former patients to contact them in case they have any concerns about their previous procedures under Hopper.

A spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS trust told the British newspaper that “the charges do not relate to Mr Hopper’s professional conduct and there has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients.”

More on amputations: We’ve Reached A New Level In Bionics: Artificial Limbs We Forget Are Artificial