Latest news with #bodymodification
The Sun
6 days ago
- The Sun
Surgeon who claimed on TV he lost legs to sepsis ‘actually caused own injuries & bought body mod vids from Eunuch Maker'
A SURGEON who claimed on TV he lost his legs to sepsis allegedly caused his own injuries after buying videos from the Eunuch Maker. Neil Hopper opened up about his so-called battle on This Morning - saying he developed the illness after a family camping trip. 5 5 The consultant vascular surgeon has now been charged with fraud after allegedly causing his injuries himself. Hopper is also accused of encouraging/ assisting in the commission of an indictable only offence (grievous bodily harm). He allegedly bought videos from extreme body modification site The EunuchMaker website that showed the removal of limbs. The 49-year-old is also accused of encouraging cannibalistic ringleader Marius Gustavson to remove body parts from other people. Gustavson, who had his own penis cut off, the tip of his nipple removed and his leg frozen so that it had to be amputated, was previously jailed for life. Devon and Cornwall Police said he has been remanded into custody to appear at Bodmin Magistrates' Court today. The fraud charge states he allegedly made a false representation to insurers - "namely the injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and were not self-inflicted, intending to make a gain". Speaking about his injuries previously, Hopper claimed he and his daughter fell unwell on the camping trip in 2019. He said his daughter recovered but he was taken to hospital where he was told he had sepsis. Hopper claimed he would have needed multiple operations and skin grafts to save his legs. He said there was no guarantee the surgeries would work and feared the skin grafts would impact his work. Hopper said: "I opted not to have hundreds and hundreds of operations but just to have one to sort it out." He also told how he kept focusing on the use of power tools during the amputation, which he found "icky". The dad, who carried out hundreds of amputation operations on others, was branded the "Bravest surgeon in Britain". Hopper worked at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals since March 2023. He had General Medical Council restrictions in place from April 2023 and has been suspended from the medical register since December 2023. The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has worked alongside police during the investigation. A spokesperson for the trust said: 'The charges do not relate to Mr Hopper's professional conduct and there has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients. "Mr Hopper worked in at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals from 2013 until he was suspended from duty in March 2023, following his initial arrest. 'Former patients with any questions or concerns about their treatment can contact the Royal Cornwall Hospitals' Patient Experience team on 01872 25 2793, or email 5 5 5
Health Line
24-06-2025
- Health
- Health Line
What Is This Bump on My Cartilage Piercing and What Should I Do?
You can develop bumps and scars from a piercing. Treatment can depend on the cause but may include regularly cleaning the piercing site and jewelry and using jewelry made of certain materials. Cartilage piercings heal more slowly than earlobe piercings and are prone to irritation. In the first few days after getting your piercing, you may notice a bump or general swelling around the jewelry. You may also experience: redness bleeding bruising mild pain As your cartilage piercing begins to heal, it's normal to experience: discoloration itching oozing of a whitish-yellow fluid crust on and around your jewelry Cartilage piercings typically take anywhere from 4 to 12 months to heal completely. They heal from the outside in, which means that it may look healed on the outside long before the healing process is actually complete. Unfortunately, bumps are relatively common with cartilage piercings. They can form soon after your initial piercing or long after it's truly healed. If you still have a bump after the initial swelling subsides, it may be: a pustule — a blister or pimple that contains pus a granuloma — a lesion that occurs about 6 weeks after a piercing a hypertrophic scar — a type of thick scar that can develop on the piercing site a keloid — a scarlike benign tumor that can grow beyond the piercing site Piercing bumps can be caused by allergies, genetics, poor aftercare, or just bad luck. With treatment, they may disappear completely. When to get immediate medical attention Although minor swelling and redness are typical, more severe symptoms could be a sign of infection. See your piercer or a doctor right away if you're experiencing: uncomfortable pain or swelling unusually thick or smelly discharge yellow, green, or gray discharge fever chills nausea vomiting dizziness Although you may want to, you shouldn't remove your jewelry until your symptoms subside. If you take your jewelry out while symptoms are present, it may result in a painful abscess. If you aren't experiencing severe symptoms, you may be able to use the following methods to treat your cartilage bump at home. Change your jewelry. Contact dermatitis, an allergic skin reaction, can cause piercing bumps. Many people are allergic to certain metals. Nickel allergies are particularly common. Many cheaper metals contain nickel alloys. If you have a metal allergy, you may experience: intense itchiness skin that's tender to the touch redness or rash around the piercing a hole that appears larger than the jewelry The only way to correct this is to swap out your jewelry for something hypoallergenic. If your piercing is less than a year old — or if you aren't sure whether it's completely healed — see your piercer. They can verify an allergy and safely insert a new piece of jewelry. If you've had your piercing for a year or more, it should be safe to change the jewelry at home. You should switch to something made with: 18- or 24-karat gold implant-grade stainless steel implant-grade titanium niobium Clean your piercing. It's important to clean your piercing two to three times daily during the healing process. Even if your piercing appears healed, you should still clean it every day for at least 3 to 6 months. Before touching your piercing for any reason, including cleaning, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water. Dry your hands with a paper towel, then clean your piercing. You should use a fragrance-free antimicrobial soap — or your piercer's recommended cleanser — to clean your piercing and the surrounding area. Avoid using: benzalkonium chloride (BZK) iodopovidone (Betadine) chlorhexidine (Hibiclens) rubbing alcohol hydrogen peroxide After you cleanse, thoroughly rinse the area. Any remaining soap can cause irritation. Dry your ear by gently patting it with a paper towel. Cloth towels can be contaminated with bacteria and are more likely to snag your earring. Cleanse with a saline or sea salt soak. Saline and sea salt soaks work by washing away harmful bacteria that can lead to infection. They also wash away dead cells and other debris that build up around the piercing and form hypertrophic scars. If you don't want to buy saline, you can make your own using sea salt and water. You can make your solution by adding ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt to 8 ounces of warm water. Avoid using larger crystals as they don't dissolve well in water and can be abrasive on your skin. To soak your ear: Fill a mug to the brim with saline or sea salt solution. Tilt your head downward and hold your ear underwater. You can also dip a paper towel in the saline and apply it to your ear. Soak for 5 minutes. Use a clean piece of paper to gently pat the area dry. Use a chamomile compress Chamomile is known for its powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. A warm chamomile compress can help transfer these healing properties while increasing blood flow to the cartilage. To make a warm chamomile compress: Wash your hands. Place a bag of chamomile tea in warm water and allow it to steep for 4 to 6 minutes. Apply the tea bag to the piercing for 5 to 10 minutes. You may need to refresh the tea bag with warm water every couple of minutes. After you're done, rinse your piercing and pat it dry with a paper towel. You can alternate between a sea salt or saline soak and applying a chamomile compress. Just be aware: You shouldn't use chamomile if you have a ragweed allergy.
Telegraph
06-06-2025
- Telegraph
Former vicar linked to ‘Eunuch Maker' castration cult admits back-street surgery
A former vicar linked to the 'Eunuch Maker' ring performed a back-street surgery on another man's genitals with a pair of scissors. Geoffrey Baulcomb, 79, retired from the historic St Mary the Virgin church in Eastbourne, East Sussex, several years ago, but was still ordained at the time of the offence. A hearing at the Old Bailey heard how Baulcomb was a friend of Marius Gustavson, the imprisoned Norwegian ringleader of an extreme body modification cult operating in the UK. The pair are said to have exchanged around 10,000 messages. On Friday, Baulcomb admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent after using nail scissors to perform a procedure on a man's penis in January 2020. The victim cannot be identified for legal reasons. Baulcomb carried out the unlawful procedure at his home in Filching Road, Eastbourne. He previously admitted seven charges, including distributing an indecent video of a child and making a category A indecent image of a child. Baulcomb admitted making four indecent photos of a child, namely four category B images and making 37 category C indecent images of a child. He admitted three further charges of possessing extreme pornographic images. The charges date between March 4 2020 and Dec 14 2022. The self-styled 'Eunuch Maker' Gustavson mutilated paying customers and streamed it online. The Norwegian, who had his own penis cut off, a nipple removed and his leg frozen so it had to be amputated, was jailed for life last year with a minimum term of 22 years. Police had raided Baulcomb's £25,000 cottage near Eastbourne in December 2022 and found a stash of heroin along with the tranquilliser ketamine. Baulcomb accepted a police caution for possessing the substances and told church officials he had been buying and using drugs, including heroin, 'periodically' for 20 years. The Church of England's disciplinary tribunal had 'utterly rejected' his claim that taking drugs 'assisted him in carrying out his pastoral mission'. Baulcomb was handed a permanent ban from any church position last September. 'Carrying out surgical procedure' Prosecutor Caroline Carberry, KC, previously told the court: 'The images relate to moving images which had been on the 'Eunuch Maker' website. 'Mr Baulcomb is an acquaintance of Marius Gustavson and the evidence discloses over a four-year period he was regularly in touch, exchanging just over 10,000 messages to each other on their mobile phone. 'At the time of his arrest his phone was seized and analysed and as a result of that some material was found which led to this defendant being charged with the offence of section 18 GBH with intent. 'That charge specifically refers to the defendant carrying out a surgical procedure designed to enlarge the opening of the urethra and to use a pair of scissors to do so. 'There is a nine-second video of the procedure being carried out.' Judge Nigel Lickley, KC told Baulcomb on Friday that he would likely face 'a custodial sentence of some length'. He was placed on conditional bail and will be sentenced on Sept 1.
Sky News
06-06-2025
- Sky News
Retired vicar admits role in 'Eunuch Maker' extreme body modification ring
A retired Church of England vicar has admitted his role in an extreme body modification ring run by man who called himself the Eunuch Maker. Warning: The following article contains graphic details of extreme physical mutilation Reverend Geoffrey Baulcomb, 79, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent at the Old Bailey after using nail scissors to perform a procedure on man's penis in January 2020. A nine-second video of the incident was found on his mobile phone. He previously admitted seven charges, including possessing extreme pornography and making and distributing images of children on or before 14 December 2022. Prosecutors said some of the material included moving images which had been on the eunuch maker website, run by 47-year-old Norwegian national Marius Gustavson. Gustavson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years last year after a court heard he made almost £300,000 through his website, where thousands of users paid to watch procedures, including castrations. Baulcomb was said to have been an "acquaintance" of Gustavson, and the pair exchanged more than 10,000 messages with each other over a four-year period. Judge Nigel Lickley KC released him on conditional bail as he adjourned sentencing to 1 September but warned he faces a prison sentence "of some length". Baulcomb was formerly a vicar at St Mary the Virgin Church in Eastbourne but retired from full-time ministry in the Church of England in 2003. The diocese of Chichester said he applied for "permission to officiate", which allows clergy to officiate at church services in retirement, when he moved to Sussex the following year. Baulcomb was banned for life from exercising his Holy Orders following a tribunal last year, which heard he was issued with a caution after police found crystal meth and ketamine at his home in December 2022. He had claimed experimenting with drugs or allowing his home in Eastbourne to be used for drug taking would "better enable him to relate and minister to people with difficulties as part of his pastoral care". The diocese said the Bishop of Chichester immediately removed his permission to officiate after being contacted by police, and bail conditions prevented him from attending church or entering Church of England premises. "The Diocese wishes to put on record our gratitude for the Metropolitan Police's pro-active approach to information sharing and partnership working, which has enabled us to manage the risks Mr Baulcomb has presented whilst under investigation," a statement said. The Old Bailey heard last year that extreme body modification is linked to a subculture where men become "nullos", short for genital nullification, by having their penis and testicles removed. Gustavson and nine other men have previously admitted their involvement in the eunuch maker ring, which one victim said had a "cult-like" atmosphere. The life-changing surgeries, described as "little short of human butchery" by the sentencing judge, were carried out by people with no medical qualifications, who he had recruited. Prosecutors said there was "clear evidence of cannibalism" as Gustavson - who had his own penis and nipple removed and leg frozen so it needed to be amputated - cooked testicles to eat in a salad. Gustavson, who was said to have been involved in almost 30 procedures, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm between 2016 and 2022. In interviews from prison, he has told Norwegian broadcaster NRK for a podcast series "Evnukkmakeren" he is "just a very, very kind person who perhaps went a little too far to help people live a better life". Gustavson, who lost an appeal against his sentence earlier this year, said: "What we did, what we perhaps created, what we did, was good and fine. But I think, yes... something might have gone wrong somewhere."
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Archaeologists baffled to find strange 800-year-old mummy with face tattoos
Archaeologists have found never-before-seen tattoos on the cheeks and arms of an 800-year-old Andean mummy, shedding more light on ancient cultural practices in South America. Humans have adopted body modification methods throughout history to conform to prevalent beauty standards, social status and group affiliation, and even for ritual reasons. Among such body modifications, tattooing still exists as a widely practised cultural practice. However, there are very few surviving examples of tattooed skin in archaeological records due to the soft nature of skin. An analysis of existing records of preserved skin with evidence of tattoos suggests that South American coastal deserts have the most preserved tattooed human remains in the world. So, scientists closely assessed a well-preserved female mummy held at the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the University of Turin that had been excavated from a site in the Andes mountains. Radiocarbon analysis revealed that the mummy was over 800 years old. She lived sometime between 1215 and 1382CE. Researchers used two new infrared analysis techniques to look for any tattoos not visible to the naked eye. They were surprised to find tattoos on both cheeks of the mummy's face, including three straight running lines from the ear to the mouth. They also found a wrist tattoo in the shape of an S. Using chemical analysis techniques like x-ray fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy, they determined the tattoos were made using pigments developed from the iron mineral magnetite and another called pyroxenes. The analysis revealed a surprising absence of charcoal, the most commonly used tattoo material reported in literature. 'The results show both rare shapes and anatomical location – lines on cheeks and S-like mark on wrist – and unusual ink composition,' they wrote in the study. The simple tattoos have proved difficult to interpret and identify with any specific culture, however. South American tattoos are typically more complex drawings on hands, wrists, forearms, and feet. Cheek tattoos are rarer. In fact, no other ancient tattoo found in the region so far is comparable to the 'S' motif on the mummy's arm. Given the location of the tattoos on body parts not usually covered by clothing, researchers suspect they may have had a 'decorative or communicative purpose'. However, they add that 'at the moment, it is not possible to attribute either a sort of medical or therapeutic purpose or a cultural provenance' to them. 'To conclude, the research actively contributes in the study of ancient tattoo practice, in particular in South America about eight centuries ago, and highlights the role of museum collections in the analysis of ancient cultures,' researchers noted.
