Subscriber 130 Million 'MrBeast'
Conducts Project to Help Cataract Patients
Jimmy Donaldson (25), a famous American YouTuber with 130 million subscribers, has gained attention for sponsoring eye surgeries for 1,000 people who are visually impaired or at risk of blindness. Donaldson currently runs the YouTube channel 'MrBeast' and holds the world’s number one spot for individual YouTuber subscribers.
On the 29th (local time), according to foreign media including CNN in the U.S., Donaldson collaborated with the nonprofit organization '(SEE) International' which provides free ophthalmic care to patients in need, carrying out a project to help 1,000 cataract patients. The eye surgeries for 1,000 people gathered from Mexico, Honduras, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, Kenya, Jamaica, and other countries were successfully completed.
In particular, Donaldson uploaded a video titled "1000 Blind People See For The First Time" on his YouTube channel, where he asked a doctor, "Is there a technology that can fix blindness?" The doctor replied, "Half of all visually impaired people can see again with just 10 minutes of (surgery) time."
According to the video, the principle of cataract surgery is simple. Removing the clouded lens and inserting an artificial lens allows the patient to see again. Donaldson paid for the surgeries of all 1,000 patients.
This project began last September when Donaldson’s team contacted ophthalmologist Jeff Levenson. Levenson said, "Honestly, I almost hung up because I didn’t know 'MrBeast,' but fortunately, we talked and were able to do such a great thing."
Levenson has been running the 'gift of sight' program for over 20 years, providing free surgery to uninsured patients blinded by cataracts.
Donaldson also gave gifts such as cash to some low-income participants. He awarded Jeremiah, who was born blind in his right eye, a $50,000 scholarship (about 61.4 million KRW) as a college acceptance gift, and gifted Satchel, whose wish was to drive, a Tesla vehicle.
Meanwhile, Donaldson, who has been active since 2012, was named the top creator by Google last year. He also became famous in Korea for creating a video in November 2021 that recreated the Netflix series 'Squid Game.'
He built a massive set to realistically implement games from the drama such as 'Mugunghwa Flower Has Bloomed' (Korean version of Red Light, Green Light), where 456 participants played the game and the final winner took home a prize of $456,000 (about 582 million KRW). This video received worldwide attention and recorded over 320 million views.
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