It's a bit extreme and to be honest with you I wouldn't be at all surprised if this later turned out to be a hoax but still it's got everyone talking.
Over the weekend news has been trickling out that a Chinese teen has gone to extreme lengths to get his hands on a iPad 2, selling one of his kidneys to get the popular gadget. In China Apple gadgets are huge status symbols amongst the teenage population which might go some slight way to explaining things.
"I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn't have the money", recalls a 17 year old boy known only by his surname "Zheng".
Desirable iPad 2 Tablet PC
Without a college education Zheng's prospects weren't looking great. The average wages in most major Chinese cities ranges from 1000RMB to about 5000RMB, at current exchange rates it would take the young man several months to get hold of the Apple device.
To get around the wait Zheng ended up making a shocking decision. He recalls, "When I surfed the internet I found an advert posted online by an agent saying they were able to pay 20,000RMB to buy a kidney".
Zheng then ended up sneaking out of his home and travelling north to the city of Chenzhou in Hunan Province. Visiting a local hospital he had a kidney removed and was hospitalised for three days before discharge with 22,000RMB in hand. With the money he reportedly purchased an iPhone 4, Macbook and the fabled iPad 2.
He tried to hide these new items from his mother but she grew suspicious when she saw the expensive Apple gadgets. Upon experiencing complications the young man confessed what he did to his mother. Shocked by the turn of events Zheng's mother took her son to the Chenzhou police to report what had happened, yet the agents who Zheng had brokered the deal with had vanished. Upon contacting the hospital where the operation took place the hospital claimed it contracted out its urology department to a private businessman. It denied all knowledge of the businessman's identity or the surgeries he was performing. It appears the case has not been closed due to a lack of evidence.
It's a strange and shocking story by all counts; which I hope is not entirely true. You would hope that this would not happen in the UK and thankfully we don't have the organ black market issues that China does.
Apple devices while desirable are not quite life changing enough to exchange for a kidney…
