Neil Hopper, a 49-year-old vascular surgeon from Cornwall, England, has been sentenced to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to insurance fraud and possession of extreme materials. The case has shocked the medical community and raised concerns among his former patients.
In April 2019, Hopper froze his lower legs using dry ice for eight hours, causing severe damage that made them no longer usable. He bought about 44 pounds of dry ice pellets through PayPal just three days before paramedics found him at home with serious injuries to his feet and legs. He was admitted to Royal Cornwall Hospital with suspected sepsis and later moved to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, where he spent several weeks in a hyperbaric chamber before his legs were cut off below the knee.
