The 17-year-old boy, identified only by his surname, “Zheng”, confessed to his mother that he had sold the kidney after spotting an online advertisement offering cash to anyone prepared to become an organ donor.
“I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn’t have the money,” the boy told Shenzhen TV in the southern province of Guangdong, “When I surfed the internet I found an advert posted online by agent saying they were able to pay RMB 20,000 (equals 3,089.28 U.S. dollars) to buy a kidney.” After negotiations, the boy travelled north to the city of Chenzhou in Hunan Province where the kidney was removed at a local hospital which discharged him after three days, paying a total of RMB 22,000 (equals 3,398.21 U.S. dollars) for the organ.
Trading organs online is a common practice in China, despite repeated attempts by China’s government to stamp out the practice.
The boy, who has suffered complications following the surgery, returned home but was unable to keep what he had done from his mother.
“When he came back, he had a laptop and a new Apple handset,” his mother, identified as Miss Liu, told the station, showing off the livid red scar where her son’s kidney was removed, “I wanted to know how he had got so much money and he finally confessed that he had sold one of his kidneys.”
The case, which caused an online furore, was cited by some as an extreme example of the rampant materialism of modern China.
Apple products like the iPhone and the iPad are in huge demand in China, and are seen as a badge of wealth and sophistication by young consumers. Last month scuffles broke out among desperate shoppers outside several Beijing Apple Stores as they queued to buy the newly launched iPad 2 and white iPhone 4.
And you, would you sell any part of your body to buy anything?
Source: The Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)
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