Chinese teen reportedly sells kidney to buy Apple iPad 2
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A teenager in China reportedly sold one of his kidneys so he could buy an Apple iPad 2, according to reports from Chinese media.
Identified as simply Zheng, the 17-year-old took to the Internet to find a way to raise money so he could buy himself an iPad 2, according to Shanghai Daily.
‘I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it,’ Zheng told the Daily. ‘A broker contacted me on the Internet and said he could help me sell one kidney for 20,000 yuan.’
So, on April 28, the high-schooler left his home in the Anhui province to have his kidney removed in the Hunan province of China, according to reports from both Shanghai Daily and the Global Times newspaper.
Zheng got his 20,000 yuan, which is equal to about $3,100, and returned home with a laptop and an iPad 2, according to a report from the BBC.
When Zheng’s mother noticed the computers and a ‘deep red scar on his body, which was caused by the surgery,’ the teen confessed to selling his kidney.
NBC got video footage of what it says is the boy’s kidney-removal scar and aired it on the Today show.
After learning what Zheng did, his mother went straight to the police, who so far have been unable to track down the organ broker, the reports said.
However, police have learned that the hospital where Zheng had his kidney taken out ‘was not qualified to perform organ transplants,’ the Shanghai Daily report said. ‘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.’
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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles