NHS surgeon Neil Hopper, 49, has been convicted on counts of insurance fraud and possessing ‘extreme pornography’ after having his own limbs amputated for ‘sexual gratification’
The disturbing case of Neil Hopper, the “hero” TV surgeon who had his own legs amputated because of an illness known as body integrity disorder, has cast new light on the dark illness.
Hopper, 49, had claimed hundreds of thousands in insurance after telling brokers he lost the limbs to sepsis. He revealed to a court that he felt, “he was in the wrong body.” He has been accused of receiving “sexual gratification” from the amputations, which he self-inflicted using dry ice.
Andrew Langdon KC, Hopper’s defence barrister, told the court: “He suffered from body integrity dysmorphia and had a profound distaste for his feet.
“He never felt they were part of him… He doesn’t justify or excuse his actions. He regrets the dishonesty… But he doesn’t regret the fact of the amputation which he had wanted to do for 20 years.”
What is body integrity dysmorphia?
Body integrity dysmorphia (BID), or body integrity disorder, is an extremely rare mental health condition in which a person feels a disconnect between their body as it is and their mental image of their body, manifesting in a belief that a healthy body part doesn’t belong to them.
This can lead to a desire to amputate certain body parts, although medical experts warn “there is no way to know whether the procedure will achieve that goal.”
Experts are uncertain what causes the disorder. But studies suggest that those who suffer from BID have a different brain structure than non-sufferers, with less “brain connectivity” in certain areas. This includes in brain regions that help to create a “healthy perception of the body in space.”
Others suspect triggers can include childhood sexual abuse or internalised feelings of self-hatred.
The Cleveland Clinic says that BID can affect people’s limbs, arms, fingers, toes, eyes, ears, and teeth, although the most commonly affected body part is the left leg.
It adds that sufferers are likely to seek amputation or attempt amputation themselves, although warns that “this can be extremely dangerous and potentially life-threatening” and that “the outcome of BIID is physical disability.”
There have only ever been around 400 confirmed cases of BID.
Is body integrity dysmorphia a sexual disorder?
Although BID is not strictly a sexual disorder, experts note that it is “often accompanied by feelings and cognitions of sexual arousal” and have observed a “subpopulation” of BID sufferers who are turned on by the thought of amputation.
One study suggested that as many as 72% of individuals with BIID also experience sexual arousal at the thought of disabling themselves, while as many as 87% derive sexual pleasure from looking at others with physical impairments.
However, sexual arousal is “rarely seen as the main motivation for body modification,” reported in less than a third of sufferers.
In Hopper’s case, sexual stimulation was evidently a part. His conviction came following the “EunuchMaker” investigation, in which it emerged that Hopper had purchased extreme, mutilation-themed pornography from dark-web pornsite EunuchMaker.
Marius Gustavson, who ran the website, sold three videos to Hopper, which featured men willingly having their genitals removed.
The two also shared over 1,500 personal messages, including exchanges where Hopper asked Gustavson for advice on how to amputate his legs.
In one message shared to Gustavson by Hopper, sent as the surgeon sat in a bath of dry ice to rot off his legs, Hopper excitedly wrote: “It’s going to be awesome being a double amputee”, which he paired with a picture of his erect penis.
In another message, sent after the amputations, he told Gustavson how it felt “sexy to have no feet”. The pervert continued, “It’s so cool. No feet!!!”
As a licensed surgeon, Hopper completed hundreds of amputations on patients. A spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, where Hopper worked, has asserted that the convictions did not relate to Hopper’s “professional conduct” at its hospitals.
The trust had carried out “comprehensive clinical reviews of surgery” by Hopper, “including engaging an experienced independent clinical expert to review decisions to operate.
“We want to reassure the public that our exhaustive investigations have found no evidence whatsoever to indicate any risk or harm to patients at our hospitals.”
Gustavson, who’d had his penis, nipples, and left leg removed on pay-per-view livestream by willing participants for his website, has since also been diagnosed with BID and has been sentenced to life in prison.
Experts warn that a lack of public understanding and stigma about the condition my worsen symptoms and quality of life for sufferers.
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