During the divorce, the husband demanded that his wife return a kidney
A man who was about to get a divorce asked his wife to return a rather unusual gift - a kidney. SSPDaily learned more about this incident.
This was reported by the Daily Star.
Dr. Richard Batista decided not to go the usual route of asking for a house or other property in connection with the divorce, but instead decided to get a little more from his ex back in 2009.
He and Donell were married in 1990 and had three children, but he claimed that problems in the marriage arose after his wife's health problems reached a climax.
In 2001, he made a life-changing decision, kindly donating one of his kidneys to his wife after she had unfortunately undergone two failed transplants.
At the time, he said: "My first priority was to save her life. The second bonus was to change the marriage."
Despite saving her life, four years later Donell filed for divorce, much to Dr. Batista's disappointment.
Accusing her of having an affair, he responded angrily, demanding that she either return his kidney or pay a whopping $1.5 million.
Despite his bizarre demand, medical experts agreed that it would be completely impossible for Donell to undergo kidney surgery. Medical ethicist Robert Witsch said: "It's her kidney now and removing it would mean she would have to be on dialysis or it would kill her."
Unsurprisingly, none of Dr. Batista's demands were met, and the Nassau County Supreme Court denied his request in a 10-page decision.
Marriage Judge Jeffrey Grob stated: "The defendant's attempts to seek and obtain monetary compensation not only contravene the statutory orders, but also expose the defendant to criminal prosecution."