A well-known YouTuber decided to use his platform to make the world a better place. And he didn’t stop at just 1 person. His goal – to help 1,000 people.
Often influencers go viral for all the wrong reasons, but not MrBeast. MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, recently made a video with a big promise attached. He was going to help 1,000 blind people see again.
But the how and why, that was what left people reeling. He agreed to pay for 1,000 people to get cataract removal surgery, giving them all the chance to see again.
From left, MrBeast, a popular YouTuber, sits with a blind patient who recently was given cataract surgery to help him see again. Photo from YouTube
We’re curing a thousand people’s blindness,” Donaldson said, in a video he posted to YouTube that now has more than 32 million views.
In the video, you can see before and after clips of patients who can finally see once they were done with surgery. Their reactions range from shock to tears as they can finally see again. Donaldson also gave cash donations and gifts to some of the people who had surgery.
Ophthalmologist and surgeon, Jeff Levenson, worked alongside Donalds to help during the first round. Levenson has participated in a Florida program called the “Gift of Sight” for more than 20 years. The group provides free cataract surgery to uninsured patients who are considered legally blind.
“Half of all blindness in the world is people who need a 10-minute (cataract) surgery,” Levenson said in Donaldson’s video.
MrBeast, a well-known YouTuber, used his popularity to help 1,000 blind people get cataract surgery to regain their eyesight. Photo by Getty Images
Levenson told CNN that he was inspired to help others following his own cataract surgery. “In the days and weeks after my own cataract surgery, I was stunned by how bright and beautiful and vivid the world was,” he said. “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.”
Donaldson reached out to Levenson and a partnership was formed. They began getting in touch with homeless shelters and free clinics to come up with people who would need their help.
After the first round of surgeries in Florida, Donaldson branched out. Partnering with SEE International, a nonprofit that gives free eye care worldwide, they worked to complete his goal of 1,000 patients in less than 3 weeks. His video showed people regaining their sight in Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, Kenya, Jamaica, Honduras and Brazil.
“The idea of ending needless blindness binds us all together,” Levenson said. “It’s time to see it done.”
Watch below for a look at how MrBeast helped 1,000 people regain their eyesight.
