The gift of health

The gift of health is one that we only think about when we don't feel well. Especially when we are young and vibrant, we tend to take this precious gift for granted. It is so easy to think that we are invincible when we have never really suffered from any serious condition. But if you ask 17-year old Zheng from China's Anhui province today, he will tell you how precious health is. Zheng learned his lesson the hard way.

He wanted an I-Pad, and he wanted it so badly, that he started thinking of any possible way to obtain the money for it. His parents were not affluent, so that was not an option. But then Zheng saw an ad on the Internet, which stated that he could get the equivalent of $3,400.00 if he sold one of his kidneys. Without telling his parents, Zheng took off to the hospital listed in the ad, and underwent the procedure.

Upon his return home, Zheng's mother quickly realized that something had changed. First it was because her son had an expensive I-Pad, which he could have never been able to purchase under normal circumstances, but soon due to the complications that started, causing Zheng's health to quickly deteriorate! This is when he had to tell his parents what he did, and upon investigation it turned out that the surgery had been executed by team of unqualified individuals, who had rented part of a local hospital for their unethical practices. In hindsight, the perpetrators could not be found, and the case will probably be closed without any legal action against these ruthless people who prey on the immature desires of youngsters.

Meanwhile, Zheng regrets his thoughtless decision. He learned the hard way that health is a gift – and that no asset, not even a long desired one, weighs up against that.