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It's one thing to wait in line forever just to get your hands on Apple's latest and greatest. It's a whole different story to sell your own kidney so you can afford them.
A 17-year-old boy in the Anhui province in China sold his kidney for 22,000 yuan ($3,400), so that he could then go out and purchase an iPad 2. He got the idea from an online advertisement offering cash to anyone prepared to become an organ donor, according to The Telegraph. He has expressed regret over his actions, saying his health had deteriorated ever since his kidney was removed.
"I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it," the boy surnamed Zheng told Shenzhen TV. "A broker contacted me on the Internet and said he could help me sell one kidney for 20,000 yuan." Trading organs online is a common practice in China, despite the Chinese government's attempts to stamp out the practice.
The child and broker arranged the procedure without his parents knowing, and he underwent surgery at a Chenzhou hospital in the neighboring Hunan province. His mother forced him to explain how he was able to afford the Apple products (multiple reports said he bought more than one) when he returned home with three days later, and she notified the police immediately. They have been unable to contact the three men as all their mobile phones were turned off.
"When he came back, he had a laptop and a new Apple handset," his mother said. "I wanted to know how he had got so much money and he finally confessed that he had sold one of his kidneys."
To make matters worse, it turns out that the hospital at which the surgery took place was not qualified to perform the procedure. The administration claims it was not aware of what was happening because the urology department that performed the surgery was contracted to a Fujian businessman.
Last month, we reported how Apple is similar to a religion. UK neuroscientists found that Apple imagery activates the same parts of the brain in Apple fanboys that religious imagery does in followers of that religion.
User Comments: 37
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I won't be surprise if he sells his other kidney to get the new iPhone
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I see that he already sold hes brain over something else. You dont sell your kidneys over some stupid computer device. iPad will eventually get old and then he will QQ because he sold his kidney for some stupid old worthless crap...
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Cota said:
Great job MR. Jobs... bravo...
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stewi0001 said:
Cota said:Great job MR. Jobs... bravo...
As much as I am not an Apple fan, this was not Jobs fault. You hear about people doing stupid stuff to get cash or whatever all the time.
I remember, from a December long ago when the Wii was selling like crazy, a radio station held a contest "hold your pee for a Wii." One of the contestants was a mother who ended up dying since she held it for way too long.
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He also heard there was an app to replace his kidney.
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I wonder how he removed his kidney, before he had the app to remove his kidney?
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Sure beats waking up in a bathtub full of ice with a phone taped to your hand.
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As no one said this yet... He was holding his kidney wrong!
(Pretty macabre case, actually)
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Being 17 year old is just shocking...only getting $3,400 is both shocking and a rip off.
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Wouldn't be surprised if someone is now using his kidney in the USA or something...
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mattfrompa said:
I don't know what Chinese laws are like but if this were an American child there would be several large lawsuits. Poor dumb kid...
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mattfrompa said:
I don't know what Chinese laws are like but if this were an American child there would be several large lawsuits. Poor dumb kid...
He's just screwed.
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I don't know what Chinese laws are like but if this were an American child there would be several large lawsuits. Poor dumb kid...
I think Chinese law boils down to "Keep your head down. Don't ask questions", besides, who would he sue? the unidentified loyal party member/recipient ? or the unidentified loyal party member/surgeon?
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mattfrompa said:dividebyzero said:I don't know what Chinese laws are like but if this were an American child there would be several large lawsuits. Poor dumb kid...
I think Chinese law boils down to "Keep your head down. Don't ask questions", besides, who would he sue? the unidentified loyal party member/recipient ? or the unidentified loyal party member/surgeon?
Well in America it would be the party making the deal to take the kidney and the hospital that the childs family would sue.
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treetops said:
One less ***** in the world, Darwin is looking better and better.
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Oh how wonderful social Darwinism is! Ain't survival of the fittest grand? The sad part is that he'll probably win the Nobel Peace Prize.... Hey, it could happen, just ask Obama.
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His kidney is sold on the black market and to the highest bidder around the world.
On a side note, in China there are mobile execution vehicles that will harvest a person's organs while on the road
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This is the dark side of marketing.
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He got ripped off (excuse the pun), a human kidney can go for over $5,000 or more on the black market.
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Apple = Evil
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@Guest 9:29 PM: An unhealthy obsession with material things is evil too
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Another Apple fan, if he rich enough he will buy everything Apple without sale himself.
I come across a lot of young ppl who dont know how to earn money buy everything Apple just to show off. Shame on them
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dividebyzero said:I don't know what Chinese laws are like but if this were an American child there would be several large lawsuits. Poor dumb kid...
I think Chinese law boils down to "Keep your head down. Don't ask questions", besides, who would he sue? the unidentified loyal party member/recipient ? or the unidentified loyal party member/surgeon?
By the way DBZ, in many south east asian countries, wealthy westerners are able to buy kidneys for roughly 3-5K$ (at the cheapest); so the ill is just not limited to China.
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By the way DBZ, in many south east asian countries, wealthy westerners are able to buy kidneys for roughly 3-5K$ (at the cheapest); so the ill is just not limited to China.
The difference being that the free enterprise system that marginalizes traditional Asian values and elevates a Western worship of materialism is probably more to blame in S.E.Asia than a government harvesting their own people as a biogenic commodity -in general terms....imo
BTW, I wonder who the recipient was. No truth to the rumour that Steve Jobs is buying immortality one iPad at a time then ?
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The difference being that the free enterprise system that marginalizes traditional Asian values and elevates a Western worship of materialism is probably more to blame in S.E.Asia than a government harvesting their own people as a biogenic commodity -in general terms....imo
BTW, I wonder who the recipient was. No truth to the rumour that Steve Jobs is buying immortality one iPad at a time then ?
Okay, okay,....I admit it. I bought the kidney! I heard that they made good stuff over there.
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