Some people would pay an arm and a leg to get a new iPhone, and apparently one Chinese teen would give up a kidney.
Five people in southern China have been charged with intentional injury after a Chinese teenager sold a kidney so he could purchase an iPhone and an iPad, according to the government-run Xinhua News Agency.
The five who were charged included a surgeon who removed the kidney from a 17-year-old boy in April 2011. The unidentified boy now suffers from renal deficiency.
According to Xinhua, one of the defendants got about 220,000 yuan (~ $35,000) to set up the transplant.
He paid 22,000 yuan to the boy and split the rest with the surgeon, the three other defendants, and various other medical staff.
It is not known who got and paid for the kidney.
The teen was from the notably poor province of Anhui. He bought an iPhone and iPad, and when his mother asked where he got the money, he admitted to selling one of his kidneys.
Apple products are priced beyond the reach of many Chinese citizens. IPhones, for example, start at 3,988 yuan ($633), while iPads begin at 2,988 yuan ($474).
The boy’s renal deficiency is said to be deteriorating.
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