An 18-year-old Chinese lad who used money from selling one of his kidneys to buy an iPhone and iPad 2 is now suing for compensation of 2.27 million yuan (£227,785).

The misguided fanboi from Anhui province, surnamed Wang, was 17 when he agreed to the illegal transplant procedure in April 2011. In total, he received just 22,000 yuan (£2,197) of a total bounty of 220,000 yuan (£21,971) for the organ.

The rest of the loot was allegedly split between ringleader He Wei, who had organised the whole affair to help pay off his gambling debts, several hospital workers, and Song Zhongyu, a surgeon from a provincial hospital in Yunnan province.

The men are now on trial for illegal organ trading and causing intentional injury and could face up to 10 years in prison, according to the China Daily.

Their alleged plot was uncovered after Wang’s mother quizzed her son about his shiny new Apple products and discovered he’d parted with rather more than just cash to get hold of them.

The mother doesn’t believe that a love of all things Apple motivated her son to seek out a kidney surgeon on the black market, however.

"My son was tempted by the illegal organ traders and might have been afraid of getting caught with such a large amount of money, so he bought a cell phone and a tablet PC," she told the China Daily.

Wang has been paying the price ever since, suffering serious renal failure which prevented him from attending the trial of the men who helped relieve him of one of his organs.

There’s no info on when Wang’s plea for civil compensation will be officially heard.

Illegal organ trading in China is disturbingly popular, with over 130 suspects reportedly cuffed after a police crack down last month. ®