A mentally disabled 19-year-old boy was tricked into having breast enlargement surgery by a beauty clinic in China on the bogus grounds that it could boost his income via live-streaming. The boy’s mother, surnamed Lu, from Wuhan, Hubei province in central China, said her son underwent the cosmetic operation on July 28 after following the advice of staff at a local beauty clinic. “When our family heard about this, we were absolutely shocked.
It was like the sky was falling. He’s only 19 years old,” the distraught mother said. She claimed that her son, while seeking employment at the clinic, was told by its staff that the procedure would enable him to earn money through live-streaming.
Exposed WeChat conversations between her son and clinic staff revealed that he was initially applying for a job there, which apparently provided “full board with a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan (US$400)”. When he enquired about job opportunities for males at the clinic, a member of staff said: “You can get the breast surgery done first and start working once you’ve recovered.” Despite the boy expressing concern that “cosmetic procedures are usually for women” and saying he did not have money for surgery, the staff reassured him that it was “OK for men”.
They then persuaded him to finance the operation in instalments, suggesting he could repay the loan with his live-streaming earnings. “We have many live-streamers who undergo cosmetic surgery here and make a lot of money.