World’s biggest YouTuber MrBeast, 24, who paid to cure 1,000 blind people, finally responds to critics who blasted ‘demonic’ act for using the plight of poor to boost content
- The YouTuber paid for 1,000 people to receive cataracts surgery
- Some criticized him for using sufferers needing treatment as content
The world’s biggest YouTuber MrBeast has hit back at critics who slammed him for paying to cure 1,000 people’s blindness.
Jimmy Donaldson, a 24-year-old with 131million subscribers, released a video Saturday documenting his philanthropy which has already amassed a staggering 70million views.
The clip shows sufferers with severe cataracts being able to see again after the surgery paid for by the millionaire, with the help of a the non-profit eye care organization, See.
But some online said the video was ‘demonic’, showing how sufferers could only receive the surgery by becoming online content for a rich YouTuber instead of getting the necessary treatment from the government.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=TJ2ifmkGGus%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US
The world’s biggest YouTuber MrBeast has hit back at critics who slammed him for paying to cure 1,000 people’s blindness
One Twitter post retweeted thousands of times read: ‘There is something so demonic about this and I can’t even article what it is.’
Another said: ‘What’s grotesque about it is that such a life changing treatment exists and the only way these people can access it is be becoming “content”.’
Streamer Hasan Piker was one of the video’s most high profile critics, saying: ‘I watch this video and I’m filled with rage that we shut off access to a 10-minute procedure because we paywalled it and decided that only some people can get it.
‘It’s so insanely frustrating that it’s up to one YouTube guy to decide to make content out of it, that people who are too poor just can’t f***ing see.’
Some also claimed MrBeast, who was YouTube’s highest-earning creator in 2021, earning an estimated $54million that year alone, was exploiting the sufferers to gain more fame and accrue more wealth for himself.
Some online said the video was ‘demonic’, showing how sufferers could only receive the surgery by becoming online content
But the YouTuber hit back, saying: ‘Twitter – Rich people should help others with their money.
‘Me – Okay, I’ll use my money to help people and I promise to give away all my money before I die. Every single penny.
‘Twitter – MrBeast bad.’
He also added: ‘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.’
Donaldson is known for his outlandish stunts which include videos of him being buried alive for 50 hours, and another where the last person to take their hand off a private jet gets to keep the plane.
In addition to being YouTube’s most subscribed individual, he is also one of the website’s highest earners.
In his latest video, he also gave away $10,000 to a number of cataracts patients, bought one a Tesla, and even donated $50,000 to another’s college fund. He also donated $100,000 to See.
The YouTuber hit back, saying he intends to give away every penny of his huge fortune before he dies
Jimmy Donaldson, a 24-year-old known is better known by his internet moniker MrBeast
The second person MrBeast provided the surgery for. He helped with the curing of 998 more
According to the nonprofit MyVision.org, cataract surgery costs an average of $3,500 per eye.
In the video, MrBeast shows patients getting their bandages removed after surgery, and shows their reaction. For many of them it was the first time they were able to see properly in decades.
One patient named Charlie was unable to work because his vision had deteriorated so much.
MrBeast paid for his surgery and an extra $10,000.
‘I just haven’t been me for the last 62 years,’ one patient tells MrBeast in the video, ‘I can actually see your face.’
Another man said he wanted to see his son as soon as his bandages came off, saying he had been his ‘rock’ throughout his vision problems.
‘Seeing him, seeing his face, you know, that’s what I miss the most,’ he said.
Footage shows the pair embracing in tears in the tear-jerking moment.
‘I can see everybody’s facial features now,’ he said, wiping away a tear. ‘It’s a little blurry with my tears coming out.’
MrBeast stands with a crowd of his people whose vision he helped cure in his latest video
Patients received Phacoemulsification, a surgery which sees cataracts removed with a vacuum
Once the cataract is removed from the eye an artificial lens is inserted to replace it
The surgery used in the video appeared to be Phacoemulsification, which is one of the procedures See specializes in.
In the procedure, doctors make a small incision in the eye and vacuum out the eye’s clouded cataract lens, and then inserts a new artificial lens.
Sufferers from severe cataracts are not entirely blind – they can still see light – but their vision can be so blurry that the basic shapes of objects are indiscernible.
Phacoemulsification can cost up to $6,000 for patients without insurance.
Another one of MrBeasts patients is a boy named Jeremiah, who had been blind in his right eye since birth
Jeremiah was given $50,000 to put towards his college education after his surgery
Satchel was born partially blind and always wanted to drive but couldn’t
After a successful surgery, MrBeast presented Satchel with a bran new Tesla
What is Phacoemulsification?
Phacoemulsification is a cataract surgery that sees a millimeters wide incision made into the eye’s lens.
A small vacuum is then used to suction the material that clouds the eye and hinders vision.
Then an artificial lens is then inserted into the eye.
One patient, Jeremiah, had been blind in his right eye since birth because the cataract prevented the eye from ever seeing light, which meant the surgery only had a 50 percent shot at success, MrBeast explained in the video.
Jeremiah broke down in tears after he removed his bandages to find the surgery worked, and then MrBeast presented him with a $50,000 check to put towards his college tuition.
‘I don’t even think this is real, like I’m waiting to wake up,’ he said.
The video also featured a teenager named Satchel, who was partially blind since birth and nearly lost all his vision in a go karting accident.
‘All I see is like blur and color, I can barely see the shapes,’ Satchel explained.
He told MrBeast that he had never been able to drive and was housebound.
At the end of the video after the surgery was successful, MrBeast gave Jeremiah a Tesla.
MrBeast also brought the surgery to patients from countries around the world
Countries the effort visited were Namibia, Mexico, Honduras, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam, Kenya, and Jamaica
MrBeast and See also brought their surgery around the world to cure the vision of people from Namibia, Mexico, Honduras, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam, Kenya, and Jamaica.
On its website, See explained that cataracts affect about 65.2million people around the world, and that in 80 percent of those cases vision loss can be moderate to severe.
Procedures to cure cataracts like the one detailed in MrBeast’s are relatively simple, but 99 percent of the world doesn’t have access to healthcare and services to treat the condition.
Source: Read Full Article