Teen Sacrifices Kidney for iPad, Five Arrested: Thiếu niên Trung Quốc bán thận mua iPad

BY VERONICA POLIVANAYA

One Chinese teenager’s Apple fever quickly escalated to kidney failure. The 17-year-old reportedly sacrificed his kidney so he could afford an iPhone and an iPad last April. Atlanta’s WAGA has the details.

“Five people in China are facing charges after a teen sold his kidney so he could buy some electronic gadgets. Those arrested include the surgeon, and those who arranged the operation.”

Officials say the boy approached a broker in an online chat room with his offer. The broker offered the teen $3,500 for the exchange. But Gawker puts that amount in perspective.

“The broker received $35,000 for the transplant, gave the student $3,500 and shared the remaining money with the other defendants and several medical staff involved in the operation. Surely the kid who gives up one of his organs deserves more than one-tenth of the profits, right?”

The operation didn’t stay under wraps for long. When the teen came home with new Apple products and fresh scars, his mom called the police. He came clean about the dirty deed, but now struggles with kidney failure. A writer for WebProNews tried to make light of the serious situation, saying Apple could use this incident to its advantage.

JOSH WOLFORD: “I guess this is one way Apple could advertise their popular product – “The iPad 2: so awesome, you’ll sell your organs on the black market for one!”

According to Al Jazeera, Apple products are hugely popular in China, but priced beyond the reach of many Chinese people. The Hindu reports it’s not uncommon for students to go to great lengths to acquire the gadgets.

“Soon after Wang's case, the Shanghai Daily reported that many students in southern Guangdong “had decided to donate sperm in order to raise money to buy iPads and iPhone.”

According to Xinhua, there are also 1.5 million people in need of kidney transplants, but only around 10,000 are performed annually, leading to a thriving illegal market for organs. But as Wired points out, this practice only recently became illegal.

“The human organs trade has been banned in China since 2007 — so if this deal had been conducted five years ago, this wouldn’t have been a crime at all.”

Officials continue to investigate other potential suspects, but the whereabouts of the teen’s kidney remain unknown.