Don’t worry. We thought this was some bizarre parody crafted by the satirical geniuses over at The Onion and Clickhole too. That was until we actually sat through the latest viral video posted by MrBeast (real name: Jimmy Donaldson), who recently took his charity game to the next level by paying for the cataract removal of 1,000 blind and near-blind people around the world.
“We’re curing a thousand people’s blindness,” MrBeast said during the opening of said video, which has racked up over 54 million views since being uploaded.
Jeff Levenson, an ophthalmologist and surgeon, collaborated with the YouTube sensation to perform the first round of surgeries in Jacksonville, Florida. Assembling a patient list by calling local homeless shelters and free clinics, over the course of 11 hours, Levenson managed to successfully cure 40 individuals; some of whom even received a casual US$10,000 in the aftermath of the life-changing moment, courtesy of MrBeast himself.
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According to CNN, Jeff Levenson has coordinated the Gift of Sight program for over 20 years now, which provides cataract surgery for uninsured patients who are legally blind due to cataracts completely free of charge.
“I had never heard of MrBeast. So I almost hung up. But I gratefully did not,” the good doctor told the major news publication.
“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. Without all that much cost, and with incredible gains in human productivity and human potential.”
Check out the video of MrBeast paying for the cataract surgery of 1,000 blind and near-blind people above.
