Chinese Teen Reportedly Sells Kidney for iPad 2

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We’re going to take this one with a big ole’ grain of salt: a 17-year-old Chinese kid is said to have swapped a kidney for an iPad.

A young man known as  “Zheng” contacted an underground organ trafficking outfit via the internet to sell his right kidney for about 20,000 RMB, circa US$9,000 dollars.

Minus a kidney and flush with cash, the teen bought an iPad and, according to some reports, an iPhone and a laptop.

That’s what the Beijing correspondent from The Telegraph is reporting from local sources, as well as what others are saying in translation.

“At the time, I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn’t have any money at the time. Then an organ buyer organization sent me a message telling me that if I were to sell my kidney, I could get about 20,000 RMB.”

Trading organs online is a apparently common China, the Telegraph notes, despite repeated attempts by China’s government to curb the practice.

The boy who suffered complications as a result of what sounds like backroom butchery, was unable to keep surgery from his mother who notified police. So far, they haven’t been able to track down the perps.

The story — which we wish was just tabloid fodder — is seen as evidence of growing materialism in China and the pull of Apple products, especially following the recent fights that broke out at Beijing Apple Stores during the iPad 2 launch.

Via The Telegraph, Cybernoeticman

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