Wire report
‘I felt sick that he was near my mum’: a top amputation surgeon had his own legs removed due to a fetish. Were his patients safe?
Neil Hopper was celebrated for continuing to do his job despite the loss of his lower limbs. But what the people he was treating didn’t know was that his injuries were self-inflicted. Now they and their families are asking questions Warning: this story contains graphic descriptions of bodily mutilation that some readers may find upsetting Of all the things that happened in the fraught days after 72-year-old Liz Spooner had her leg amputated at the Royal Cornwall hospital in Truro in 2022, one memory remains vivid in the mind of her daughter, Faye Harrison. Liz’s surgery had taken much longer than anticipated, Faye remembers, and, delirious after the anaesthetic and morphine, Liz had begun to refuse food and medication. That’s when Faye was ushered into a side room with a consultant surgeon. “He was smiley. He came across as quite charming and caring,” Faye recalls. He ran through a long
coverage / Wire report
Get updates, read source context, send useful records, share the story, or support the reporting work from the reading page.
Neil Hopper was celebrated for continuing to do his job despite the loss of his lower limbs. But what the people he was treating didn’t know was that his injuries were self-inflicted. Now they and their families are asking questions Warning: this story contains graphic descriptions of bodily mutilation that some readers may find upsetting Of all the things that happened in the fraught days after 72-year-old Liz Spooner had her leg amputated at the Royal Cornwall hospital in Truro in 2022, one memory remains vivid in the mind of her daughter, Faye Harrison. Liz’s surgery had taken much longer than anticipated, Faye remembers, and, delirious after the anaesthetic and morphine, Liz had begun to refuse food and medication. That’s when Faye was ushered into a side room with a consultant surgeon. “He was smiley. He came across as quite charming and caring,” Faye recalls. He ran through a long
Check the original link, updates, and responses when a detail is contested.
Open topic or search related wording such as records, sources, agencies, dates, and locations.
What happened
According to The Guardian’s linked report, ‘I felt sick that he was near my mum’: a top amputation surgeon had his own legs removed due to a fetish. Were his patients safe?, Neil Hopper was celebrated for continuing to do his job despite the loss of his lower limbs. But what the people he was treating didn’t know was that his injuries were self-inflicted. Now they and their families are asking questions Warning: this story contains graphic descriptions of bodily mutilation that some readers may find upsetting Of all the things that happened in the fraught days after 72-year-old Liz Spooner had her leg amputated at the Royal Cornwall hospital in Truro in 2022, one memory remains vivid in the mind of her daughter, Faye Harrison. Liz’s surgery had taken much longer than anticipated, Faye remembers, and, delirious after the anaesthetic and morphine, Liz had begun to refuse food and medication. That’s when Faye was ushered into a side room with a consultant surgeon. “He was smiley. He came across as quite charming and caring,” Faye recalls. He ran through a long
Context
The development sits in VINI’s Global coverage for readers following international affairs, institutions, conflict, diplomacy, economics, and cross-border consequences. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The linked report is dated 2026-08-01T05:00:45+00:00.
What to watch
Open questions include whether primary sources issue follow-up statements, whether local or market impacts become clearer, and whether additional reporting changes the timeline or adds material context.
Source
Primary source: ‘I felt sick that he was near my mum’: a top amputation surgeon had his own legs removed due to a fetish. Were his patients safe? via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
Keep following
This file can keep developing
vininews.com uses reader tips, public records, right-of-reply requests, corrections, and follow-up reporting to keep important stories current.
Support and subscriptions never buy coverage, placement, suppression, or corrections.
This VINI report keeps the original publisher link available and does not republish third-party article bodies without rights clearance. 1 reference listed.
Source links
- ‘I felt sick that he was near my mum’: a top amputation surgeon had his own legs removed due to a fetish. Were his patients safe?The Guardian - 2026-08-01T05:00:45+00:00
Reader comments
Moderated discussion
Comments are open to authenticated approved accounts, screened for spam and abuse, and published only after newsroom moderation unless editors change the story control.
No approved comments yet.
Substantive, civil comments can be submitted by approved account holders.