The ToyBox

Ricardo Bilton & Gloria Sin

Chinese boy trades kidney in exchange for iPad 2, regrets it

By | June 2, 2011, 8:35am PDT

Summary: Want an iPad 2 but lack the funds? Do what this Chinese teenager did and sell your kidney to buy one.

There are Apple fans, and then there are real Apple fans.

Count 17 year-old Chinese student “Zheng” as a member of the latter camp. Zheng is the new owner of a brand new iPad 2, which the Anhui Province resident received through the unlikeliest of means: By trading one of his own kidneys.

Both The Global Times and Shanghi Daily report the story, which begins when Zeng is contacted online by a bona fide organ broker. Zheng, clearly enticed by the notion of finally owning an iPad 2,  underwent the surgery on April 28th, exchanging the extracted organ for 22,000 yuan ($3393).

Suffice it to say that Zheng’s mom wasn’t happy with the trade, and made honest maternal efforts to get the police to help retrieve her son’s irreplacable body part. No dice, of course, because the kind broker who arranged the trade was sadly also the kind of organ broker who keeps his phone in a perpetually off state.

Now, Zheng, stricken with sickness after the surgery, regrets his decision, especially after finding out that the hospital where he stayed wasn’t actually qualified to remove his kidney in the first place.

Now the question is, are there any apps for searching for kidney donors?

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Topics

Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications.

Disclosure

Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton has no investments that may conflict with his work with ZDNet. Similarly, he has not worked with any companies that he may write about in his technology coverage.

Biography

Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications. He lives in New York, and is a graduate of Amherst College.
82
Comments

Join the conversation!

Just In

RE: Chinese boy trades kidney in exchange for iPad 2, regrets it
Snowsong 2nd Aug
@m3kw9 Yeah. If he were shot in the kidney robbing a convenience store for the money to get an iPad 2 we wouldn't bat an eyelash.
He should have donated his brain instead. It's not like he was using it.
0 Votes
+ -
LOL!
Will Pharaoh 2nd Jun
@Aerowind

happy
@Aerowind Your post is great!
His brain??? Now way. Hard to find a buyer for a brain like that.

@Aerowind
0 Votes
+ -
Brain
gomer70 3rd Jun
@Techtoo
That's easy, just name it Abi-normal
@Aerowind
I agree with you on all accounts, brain and kidney! Well said!
@Destin-y Sounds like the makings of a pie. Not a pie I'd eat but I've heard of it.
@Aerowind So you're saying he's also a bad person? You're now saying even though he knew he was stupid but he still donated his brain.
0 Votes
+ -
Huh???
MrElectrifyer 4th Jun
@m3kw9 Sounds like english ain't your first language plain get a better comprehession of english then you'll understand what he meant and why your comment makes no sense.
@Aerowind LMAO grin
@Aerowind
Can't believe you have nothing better to do but criticize a very unfortunate and bad decision. I'm sure there is more to this story than told...like how financially stricken his family may be. Why else would he be selected. Very SAD, not funny at all.
0 Votes
+ -
@anthony.smith@...
How can you come up with that? If he is in such financial dire need, why the heck is he buying an iPad2? take the money and feed your family and we wouldn't know anything about it. Not sad... not funny, but certainly not sad, just STUPID!
Great. Apparently your life is worth an iPad. Re-re, here's your sign! Maybe God will give you an iPad once you pass away from your idiotic mistake.
@Cylon Centurion

I think most people are missing the point here. The real issue wasn't the kidney for a Ipad and some cash. It was the hopsital wasn't qualified to remove oragans. So the procedure was probably done wrong and the boy now has an infection.

Of course this is China and if this organ broker is caught he'll probably be executed for the bad rep it gives China. Just like they did with the baby formula poisoning. They executed a person for that too.
@voska1 - in the US, the same broker would be given a bonus.
  • Flagged
@Cylon Centurion These type of moves is no different than most DUMB crimes/action committed on impulse of the moment.
@m3kw9 Yeah. If he were shot in the kidney robbing a convenience store for the money to get an iPad 2 we wouldn't bat an eyelash.
0 Votes
+ -
Unfortunate
oncall 2nd Jun
I see this occasionally in my field. Though I see the flip side, Americans seeking out low cost surgeries in other countries, and sometimes these go horrifically wrong. I suppose it's asking to much to at least hope the kidney was transplanted by someone competant to do so? Porbably not, so lose-lose all around.
0 Votes
+ -
Message has been deleted.
dansan1 Updated - 5th Jun
The only positive outcome of this horribly story is that someone might have his/her life saved -- even though buying organs for transplantation on black market is highly questionable doing morally.
@denisrs
except from approved and licensed sources (with tracking all the way back to the original donar) within the transplant network, so chances are this will be placed into somebody else in some unapproved, unlicensed, and unprepared hospital.
@denisrs Steve had his minions find the best state list for his organ need, used his deep pockets to get what he needed, in this case a liver ahead of dozens of other people who can't afford to do it this way. The "trickle-down" is Steve's approach: what is good for me is good for everyone: I get the liver using YOUR money paid for Apple products.
0 Votes
+ -
There is a bigger question
ego.sum.stig@... 2nd Jun
Would he have traded this for a Windows Laptop, XBox, PS3, Wii, or even Linux system?
0 Votes
+ -
@ego.sum.stig@...

IPad2 aren't
0 Votes
+ -
Neither is the Bugatti Veyron
ego.sum.stig@... 2nd Jun
But then there's the argument that all sorts of gadgetry is hard to come by in China. Odd, but pretty much invalidates your reaction.
@ego.sum.stig@...

unfortunately he could't have traded for the Windows laptop, as the UAC would have required confirmation from his mum.
It seems like he made the trade for 22,000 yuan, not some lame ass iPad.
0 Votes
+ -
You're no fun
Robert Hahn Updated - 2nd Jun
he made the trade for 22,000 yuanStop trying to wreck it for everybody. OK, he sold his kidney for three or four times the cost of an iPad. So what? If we say he traded it for an iPad, idiots will come in here and say stupid stuff without actually reading the article.

Then we can laugh at them for being dumber than this kid who sold his kidney.
@Robert Hahn It's still not a fair trade by a far stretch.
the rest of the idiot Apple fanbois have to give up their soul to their Lord Steve.
@SonofaSailor
Shut up.
0 Votes
+ -
That leaves this an open question
ego.sum.stig@... 3rd Jun
To whom have you (SonofaSailor) sold your soul to? Ballmer? Ellison? Stalin? Mao? zdnet? Your local witch doctor? Australia? Chelsea?
@ego.sum.stig@... I find it amusing how you place Ballmer and Stalin on the same level like that. And zdnet. And Australia for that matter.
Doesn't surprise me considering he's an Apple fanfag.
0 Votes
+ -
Message has been deleted.
DeusXMachina Updated - 8th Jun
@Teh Pwnfacer LMAO grin couldn't disagree
Can we say he wasted his time? Not to mention a kidney?
No device or material thing like iPad is worth somebody's life. Life is pricey. It's beyond any man's wealth!
This is sad, I hope the misguided young man recover from such a stupid mistake
@Ndiyah i sure hope so to!! my family and i are praying for him!!
0 Votes
+ -
None Free WI-FI
Mr Shaun Warburton 3rd Jun
And what was worse the hospital, charged for the use of their WI-FI while he was in there. So he came out with nothing, Foolish Boy.
Well, he's in a relatively good shape - at least he has not agreed to be part of the first HumanCentiPad (http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s15e01-humancentipad) [Warning: not safe for kids]
0 Votes
+ -
to this thread would have shown a modicum of sympathy for this unfortunate boy if he hadn't been Chinese ? As to penalties for so-called 'brokers', immediately below the story to which a link is provided above, the Global Times provides a link to an article on the punishment meted out to one such broker - seven years in prison and a fine of 100000 yuan RMB. What is interesting to note is that, in that case, the man from whom the kidney was taken seems to have actively collaborated with the broker in finding a recipient and was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 30000 yuan RMB, a fate that the boy mentioned here will presumably avoid....

Henri
0 Votes
+ -
Probably not.
Wolfie2K3 3rd Jun
@mhenriday
An idiot is still an idiot - regardless of which branch of the human family tree he fell from. It doesn't matter if he's from Austria or Zimbabwe or anywhere in between.
0 Votes
+ -
Obviously not so Bona Fide
rhon@... 3rd Jun
Unfortunately throughout Asia, the haves and the old elite behave this way. It is not a coincidence that the Greeks and the Romans had one and the same God for traders and criminals. There is nothing Bona Fide about luring boys in trading their organs. But it could be worse, even in countries like Thailand or Indonesia organs are stolen in "Bona Fide" on a regular basis. No questions asked. The poor wake up with a scare and the doctor give a vague explanation. Gadgets are promised throughout Asia, sell your daughter and you might qualify for a PC or refrigerator.
I want his brain. It's almost brand new.... hardly used. LOL
I want his brain. Almost brand new... hardly used! LOL
It's too bad he didn't trade his brain ... he clearly wasn't using it !
0 Votes
+ -
Sad
bongee 3rd Jun
You're all so cold. This poor kid is probably from a poor community and having an iPad is probably something very valuable to him; especially since having the latest gadgets is the in-thing for kids these days. He is afterall 17, at that age, kids will do almost anything. They should catch this douche bag and execute him for doing this. And the hospital should be investigated.

Join the conversation!

Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]
ie8 fix

The best of ZDNet, delivered

ZDNet Newsletters

Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox

Facebook Activity

White Papers, Webcasts, & Resources
ie8 fix