World

Chinese Teen Sells Kidney on Black Market to Pay for iPad2

I wonder if Apple’s Steve Jobs will be strangely excited or mortified by this.

A 17-year-old student in China’s Anhui province is having a bit of sellers remorse today. That’s because the boy sold his kidney for 20,000 yuan in April to pay for an iPad2. And now that his mom found out, and he’s suffering form complications, he’s regretting the decision.

“I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it,” the boy told ShanghaiDaily.com. “A broker contacted me on the Internet and said he could help me sell one kidney for 20,000 yuan.”

The site explains:

On April 28 Zheng went to Chenzhou City in neighboring Hunan Province for the kidney removal surgery arranged by the broker. His parents knew nothing about it, Zheng said. He was paid 22,000 yuan after his right kidney was taken out at the Chenzhou No. 198 Hospital.

When he returned home, his mother found out and reported to the police immediately. But they could not locate the broker whose cell phone was always powered off, the report said.

It turned out that the Chenzhou No. 198 Hospital was not qualified to perform organ transplant. The hospital claimed they had no idea about Zheng’s surgery because the department that did the surgery had been contracted to a Fujian businessman.

According to the Sun, selling organs is a popular thing in China:

Trading human organs online is very common in China despite repeated attempts by the government to stamp it out.

Last year Japanese TV reported that a group of tourists had travelled to the country and paid £50,000 for new kidneys.

Mediaite has a video that apparently shows the boy and his new scar:

For the record, 20,000 yuan is about $4,000 US.

(H/T: Business Insider)

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