YouTuber MrBeast Helps 1,000 Blind People See Again
YouTube sensation MrBeast helped 1,000 people see the world clearly again. His latest stunt is paying for the cataract operation of people who were blind or nearly blind.
Content creator Jimmy Donaldson is famous to his followers as “MrBeast.” The Youtuber gained 130 million followers through videos of expensive stunts. His channel ranks as the fourth-most-subscribed on the platform.
On Saturday, he shared a video that went viral with 32 million views. It showed a touching before and after clips of the patients’ reactions after having clear vision again. MrBeast also gave gifts and cash donations to other participants.
I did not expect this video to do this well 😮 pic.twitter.com/XNjeUy23Zx
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) January 30, 2023
The 24-year-old YouTube star worked with opthalmologist and surgeon Jeff Levenson. Currently based in Jacksonville, Florida, Levenson runs the Gift of Sight program. It offers free cataract surgery to patients that are uninsured and blind.
Levenson explained to PEOPLE, “More than half of the blindness in the world is caused by cataracts; a 10-minute surgery, at a material cost of less than $100 in resource-poor places, cures it forever.”
He also told CNN, “In the days and weeks after my own cataract surgery, I was stunned by how bright and beautiful and vivid the world was. But I was shocked by the idea that there are hundreds of millions, probably 200 million people around the world, who are blind or nearly blind from cataracts and who don’t have access to the surgery.”
When MrBeast called him about his plan, the doctor almost refused to take the call.
I don’t understand why curable blindness is a thing. Why don’t governments step in and help? Even if you’re thinking purely from a financial standpoint it’s hard to see how they don’t roi on taxes from people being able to work again.
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) January 30, 2023
He shared, “When MrBeast first called me, he enthusiastically described wanting to do a thousand cataract surgeries on blind people, all around the world, in three weeks!”
Levenson continued, “I’d never heard of him. The whole thing sounded crazy, he sounded like a 12-year-old, and I almost hung up. So glad I didn’t.”
They started the project by calling free clinics and homeless shelters to fill in the list of patients who need surgery but can’t afford one. They have gathered a group of 40 patients. Levenson performed the operation in one day, from 7 am until 6 pm.
Alongside the videos of their project, MrBeast also included clips of people seeing again. It featured people from Honduras, Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, Kenya, and Jamaica. The videos showed patients crying after seeing clearly after months.
1/10? Guess you guys like the new style 🤪🥰
If you’re a creator reading this don’t be afraid to take risks! pic.twitter.com/sGvnEDYFiH
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) January 29, 2023
The YouRTube star had been working with a nonprofit, SEE International. It gives free eye care to patients in need worldwide. He achieved his goal of helping 1,000 people regain their vision in less than three weeks.
Levenson was in awe as to how the video turned out. He said, “Having the thing you love to do shared with tens of millions of people is a unique pleasure.”
He also hoped that MrBeast’s video would inspire others to be generous enough to help. Levenson added, “If MrBeast can light a fire, and if we can get governmental and private support behind it, we can end half of all the blindness in the world.”
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