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    Chinese Teenager Sells Kidney For iPhone

    A Chinese teenager has sold his kidney to buy an iPad and iPhone.

    :: Commentary on this video is in Mandarin

    Xiao Zheng, from the country's south-eastern Anhui province, is believed to have met a broker on the internet who said he could help him sell his kidney for £1,825 (Yuan 20,000).

    He is said to have left a message for the middleman saying: "I want to buy an iPad 2."

    Zheng then travelled to Chenzhou in central Hunan province, where he had his right kidney removed in a hospital.

    His mother told reporters she was devastated by the news.

    She said: "When my son came home he had a laptop computer and an Apple phone.

    "Where did all that money come from? Only when he could bear it no longer did he tell us.

    "He said, Mum, I sold my kidney.

    "When I heard it I felt like the sky was crashing down on our family."

    The boy's mother alerted police after she found out but they were unable to locate the broker as his phone was switched off.

    The hospital was not authorised to perform organ transplants, and claimed they had no idea about the surgery because the department had been contracted to a businessman from a neighbouring province, reports said.

     

    591 comments

    • Neogenyx  •  8 months ago
      Confucius say "Health more important than latest gadgets"...In 12 months time his toys will be out of date, and he'll still be one kidney down.
    • Nick  •  8 months ago
      Lets hope for this young mans sake, that his remaining kidney stays healthy, otherwise it could cost him dearly in the future. Very sad!
    • dave  •  8 months ago
      Won't get much when he tries to sell his brain.
    • Rob T  •  8 months ago
      No piece of technical gagdetry is worth losing a kidney for in order to aquire. We've all become far too materialistic for our own good........the sob story of 'how rough life is in China' doesn't really wash I 'm afraid - heartless? not at all, just realistic. This boy didn't need to get an ipad or iphone when a cheaper but just as effective phone and computer would have done the job just as well.

      I don't have an ipad or an iphone and I don't feel I'm missing out on things.........my Samsung Toccolite phone is just fine, as is my Asus Notebook. If anyone wants to sneer and look down at me just because I don't have any apple products then let them - it doesn't bother me.

      This boy was so determined to get his hands on the latest Apple ipad and iphone that he is apparently prepared to risk his life and long term health. If this is society pressuring you to conform so as not to be 'left out' or 'ridiculed' then let me me ridiculed.

      I'm not a slave to Apple but excercise my own choices and rights both as a consumer and overall human being. It's not really this boy's fault - blame the society he and we live in and Apple for coming out with new versions of the ipad and iphone very five minutes. Why does society force us all to believe that we are losing out if we don't buy Apple, it's more than just crafty marketing - it's not right, and almost evil of Apple to be so aggressive in its marketing strategies, to indirectly compel a young boy to risk his life and go behind his parents backs in order to own Apple products. Really sad, and a reflection on the times we live in now.
    • R  •  8 months ago
      Sorry state of the world where iphones and ipads are king. Makes me wonder.
    • bob  •  8 months ago
      Think selling a Kidney is bad-----In Cambodia and other third world countries. Parents are knowingly selling their children as young as 8 years to pimps who turn them into child sex slaves for perverts. look that up in the internet and you will be shocked at the life these children are forced to live.
      The guy with the kidney is just another example of what is allowed to go on.
    • Graham  •  8 months ago
      One of the drawbacks of living in a world of must -have electronic gagetry. When I was a kid we spent most of our time in the park playing football and British Bulldog 123! Most families could afford a football so I never felt like selling a vital organ.
      The sad, sick thing about this story is that the "broker" probably made a small fortune, supplying a young healthy kidney to some wealthy recipient.
    • Stace Mccourt  •  8 months ago
      Soprano, you post a comment saying how life is so hard out there, that the boy did it to fund for internet access and telcommunication to give him a chance of work and a career, but if you read the artical, he found a broker on the INTERNET, and if your comment is true why does he pick the 2 most expensive gadgets on the market, a $100 laptop and $50 mobile phone will do just the same job as your implying why he went through with it, its just a case of idiot'ism,
    • d  •  8 months ago
      it is the world we live in , people even sell their own children very sad indeed :-(
    • Tim  •  8 months ago
      He'll be gutted (literally) when the ipad 3 comes out!
    • A Yahoo! User  •  8 months ago
      I'm 10 pounds overweigh. I'll sell the fat for charity.
    • eddie w  •  8 months ago
      Idiot. He'll not get that thing back when the iPad 3 comes out.
    • Just some guy  •  8 months ago
      With only one kidney, he'll struggle to have a Wii....
    • A Yahoo! User  •  8 months ago
      chinese proverb say- This was not a wise move
    • PAUL  •  8 months ago
      apple......forbidden fruit.
    • Klaus  •  8 months ago
      He will not be the only one, this is going on around the 3rd world countries for a long time, we just dont hear about it as most people dont go to the police about it.
      Thats why this will be the business of brokers and irresponsible Doctors in the future.
    • Kay-Z  •  6 months ago
      iPhone Madness....
    • Liana  •  8 months ago
      That's very sad! I hope his remaining kidney functions well.
    • Convey  •  8 months ago
      What a stupid kid but his parents should be able to say otherwise should they not. But no website should allow for this sort of thing to be sold online.
    • John S  •  8 months ago
      Typical teenager acting up cause mom and dad wouldnt get him what he wanted, maybe now hel start listening to is parents!!!! I just hope he learned his lesson, and when he gets older he doesnt SELL HIS KIDS for a new car or something of that sort.