A Chinese teenager was so desperate to acquire the new iPad 2 that he sold one of his kidneys for just £2,000 to pay for it, according to reports.
The high school student from Anhui Province, Xiao Zhang, confessed to his mother that he was motivated to sell the kidney after seeing an internet ad offering cash to people who were prepared to become organ donors.
“I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn’t have the money . When I surfed the internet I found an advert posted online by agent saying they were able to pay 20,000 renminbi (£1,880) to buy a kidney ,” The Telegraph quoted Zheng, as saying.
According to official statistics more than a million people in China need a transplant every year, but fewer than 10,000 receive organs, driving an almost unstoppable black-market organ trade that enriches brokers, doctors and corrupt government officials.
The blackmarket trade is driven by the fact that there are many times more people waiting for organs than there are legitimate donors.
Zheng’s mother told Shenzhen TV that she took her son to report the matter to police but the agents who had organised the organ trade were uncontactable.
Police are reportedly trying to track down the buyers.