24-year-old YouTuber MrBeast has shared a new video that shows him sponsoring cataract surgeries to help 1,000 people see again.
The hugely popular YouTube star, who has the fourth-most-subscribed channel on the platform, is known for his philanthropic stunts. His latest video sees him working with surgeons to help people with curable blindness from around the world. As ophthalmologist and surgeon Jeff Levenson pointed out in the video, half of people with blindness could be able to see again with a surgery that takes just ten minutes.
“If you’re wondering how the surgery allows people to see again, it’s because the lens in their eyes got so cloudy that they can’t see through it,” MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, explained. “So the surgeon uses a tiny vacuum to suck up the clouded lens, and replace it with an artificial one. This surgery is that simple, they can see again.
The clip features some of the 1,000 people as they see again for the first time after the surgery, with a number of emotional responses. He also gifted many of them with money, up to $50,000 in some instances and a brand new Tesla for someone else.
In a tweet shared on Monday, MrBeast questioned why governments aren’t doing more to help those with curable blindness. “I don’t understand why curable blindness is a thing,” he wrote. “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."
In comments shared with CNN, Levenson explained that he was inspired to help people after he received cataract correction surgery himself. “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,” he said. “Without all that much cost, and with incredible gains in human productivity and human potential.”
