Raïd had no trouble selling his left kidney because he was fit and didn’t smoke. He played for the Syrian national youth soccer team. During the examinations doctors told him lies evidently meant to calm him down. With a little luck, the kidney would grow back, he was told, and there wouldn’t be any after-effects. In truth, live donors need to undergo check-ups for years after the operation, and people like Raïd can’t afford that kind of treatment. He got $7,000 (€5,200) for his kidney. “While I drove Raïd and his mother to the clinic, a colleague of mine was shopping with the father,” says Abu Hussein. The family lacked everything: Raïd’s father bought mattresses and winter clothing, a fridge and an oven, and took it all to the one room the family of eight lives in today. They have enough left over to get through the winter. And then? “I don’t know,” says Raïd. More here.