Jun 3, 2011 10:03 GMT  ·  By

We’re now a step closer to properly assessing just how popular the iPad 2 is after hearing that a 17-year old sold one of his internal organs so he could buy himself the elusive tablet computer.

Via ShanghaiDaily comes word that 17-year-old Zheng, a student in the Anhui Province, decided to renounce one of his kidneys in exchange for 20,000 yuan with the ultimate goal of buying an Apple iPad 2.

According to the original report, published by the Global Times, Zheng said “I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it.”

He reportedly told the paper that a broker had contacted him on the Web and said he could help him sell one kidney for 20,000 yuan.

As the story goes, the boy agreed and, on April 28th, he went to Chenzhou City in neighboring Hunan Province to have the surgery performed at Hospital No. 198.

In accordance with the deal closed by the broker and the department picked to carry out the procedure, the boy received 22,000 yuan (an extra 2,000), which translates into roughly $3,400.

Naturally an investigation was kicked off soon after the mother had learned of the boy’s actions.

It is unclear at which point between the surgery and the mother’s discovery the boy actually visited a store to get the goods, nor is the iPad model specified.

The post-PC device starts at $499 for the base, WiFi-only model with 16 gigs of storage, and can go up to $829 for WiFi+3G and 64GB flash memory.

The mother reportedly called the police immediately after learning that her son had foolishly given up a kidney to buy himself a gadget.

The police, however, was unable to locate the broker. According to the reports covering the subject, his phone was powered off every time the authorities attempted to make contact.

To make matters worse, the boy’s health is now in danger.

He reportedly told interviewers that he regrets making such a rash decision but, according to the ShanghaiDaily citing the Global Times, “it is too late” - an interpretable assertion that shouldn’t suggest his life is hanging by a thread.