Chinese boy 'sells kidney to buy iPad'

Chinese boy 'sells kidney to buy iPad'

A Chinese boy is suffering from kidney failure after he sold his organ to buy an iPad and iPhone, state media reported on Friday.

The 17-year-old boy, identified only by his surname Wang, was approached in an online chatroom and paid 22,000 yuan (£2,200) for his kidney to be used in an illegal transplant operation, the Xinhua News Agency said.

The teen now suffers from renal deficiency and his health is deteriorating, according to prosecutors in Chenzhou city, Hunan province.

According to the Xinhua, one of the accused was paid 220,000 yuan (£22,000) to arrange the transplant. He paid the boy 22,000 yuan (£2,200) and shared the remaining profit with the surgeon, the three other defendants and other medical staff.

The Telegraph

What surprises me is that it is possible to buy a kidney so cheaply in China, plus the fact that the boy only got 10% of the fee.

The boy’s mother discovered that her son had sold his kidney when she enquired about his new iPad and iPhone.

Only a fraction of the Chinese people in need of transplants are able to get them, which leads to “transplant tourism” where patients travel overseas for such operations. China banned the trading of human organs in 2007, Xinhua said.

Black market organ trading is becoming more rampant as the disparity between the number of kidneys available and the number of Chinese needing transplants grows.

The Telegraph

Renal failure - I don't think there's an app for that. this boy is going to learn the hard way that your body is worth more than material possessions.

lol, too bad the iPad 4 will cure kidney failure.

Sorry, not the iPad 4... "the New iPad2".

We're living in a VERY sad world when the mighty Apple corp has that much influence on the weak minded for this sort of thing to happen.Sadly Steve Jobs died before his dream of becoming galactic ruler came true.
Here in England we know Apple as a supplier of consumer electronics but some countries seem to treat them with almost religious reverence,this is something I just can't understand?

reply to post by ollncasino


I remember when the PS3 just launched in 2007, they had posters and t shirts that said "Sell a kidney if you have too".

This kid took it to the next level.

vvv

** this is not funny, it is seriously tragic. poor kid was tricked big time, by the most ruthless evil. i hope his soul will find a better planet to live on later in his eternal journey. for every half-good person who fails to oppose evil, another half-dozen criminal dregs will think that gives them freedom to do what they like. even partly corrupt police are better than no police, so we should respect them as much as possible. without morality controls, humans would have extinguished themselves in endless wars thousands of years ago. we all have a duty to add to the Collective Goodness concept of Humanitarianism, that ought to replace religion. do your bit somewhere today. please.

And then people ask "what's happened to our youth!!!!11111!!"

Yeah. This is an extreme case, but also an extreme realization of what's happened to our youth and where their priorities are.

@ Everyone who says this is tragic...yes it is, but no one forced or tricked him into selling his kidney. He was just dumb enough to do it.

Anyone that trades their vital organs for frivolous reasons deserves the penalties that come with their decision. Not to seem harsh or anything.

jaw dropper

Buying an iPad will cost you an arm, a leg, or some other body part.
I bet the people that are outraged over Chinese child "slave labor" are feeling pretty darn stupid right about now.

Allow me to play the Devil's advocate here. If this was an article about a 17 Y/O boy who had donated his kidney to save someone's life, we'd be heralding the kid as a hero and he'd still be suffering from renal failure for his decision and he wouldn't even have anything whatsoever to show for his contribution. Same bone headed choice would have been made... only the motivation/return for said bad choice would have been different.

The dude's thinking processes are skewed, no doubt... but isn't it interesting the thin line between heroic and idiotic is essentially determined in a counter-intuitive manner? He'd be a hero if he walked away down a kidney and shy of any compensation, yet he's a victim walking away down a kidney but with a compensation he himself negotiated and agreed to beforehand. Seems like sunshine and farts trump logic these days.