A cash-strapped Chinese teenager in Huaishan, Anhui Province has sold one of his kidneys to buy an iPad2 tablet computer, reports SZTV.
The 17-year-old Zheng, a freshman in high school, got connected with a kidney-selling agent through the internet, who pledged to pay him 20,000 yuan ($3,084.45 ) for one of his kidneys.
On April 28 of this year, Zheng went to Chenzhou, Hunan Province to have his kidney removed under the supervision of three so-called middlemen, and received 22,000 yuan ($3,392.97). Then he returned home with a laptop and an iPhone.
Zheng’s mother discovered her son’s new electronic products and became suspicious of how he procured the devices. She forced him to explain how he got them and then reported the matter to local police.
The hospital where Zheng had his kidney removed might be a black market site, as multiple sources report that it does not hold a state authorization to perform the risky transplants. The hospital denies any connection with the kidney removal operation, and has said that its urology department is contracted to a businessman in Fujian.