Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Urban Legend Proved True

The last things Mohammed Salim remembered were the knees pinning him to the ground, the guns pointed at his head, and, finally, the injection that sent him into oblivion.

When he awoke, he was in agonizing pain, uncertain where he was or why he was wearing a hospital gown.

"We have taken your kidney," a masked man calmly explained. "If you tell anyone, we'll shoot you."

Salim was one of the last victims in an organ transplant racket that police believe sold up to 500 kidneys to clients who traveled to India from around the world over the past nine years.

The article goes on:

"I don't know how I will survive," said Salim, whose five children were at the hospital. "I am the only earner in the family and the doctors said I can't do heavy work."

Shakeel Ahmed, 28, was in the hospital bed next to Salim, wincing in pain as he told his story. He is unmarried and has no children, but he is responsible for five nieces and nephews, he said.

"I'm sad, I'm angry. I don't know how I will care for them," Ahmed said, pointing to his elderly parents sitting on the foot of his bed. "Why me?"

You can read more here.
The urban legend account is documented here.

Some questions:
-Does this bring home the fact that man is sinful at his core?
-What were your initial thoughts upon reading this?
-What if this was you? Your wife?
-How should we respond to such things as this?
-What do you think will become of these victims?

2 comments:

Layneh said...

The snopes site you linked confirms thats this is a fake urban legend.

"Status: False"

j razz said...

Yes. But this has now been proven true. See the news article I linked to above it that was posted today.

Of course, the variation about waking up in ice is not true, but people really are getting their kidney's stolen.

j razz