YouTube star MrBeast gives the gift of sight to 1000 people by sponsoring their surgeries

People who have an abundance of resources should help out the ones who don't. However, we rarely see celebrities and affluent people in the entertainment industry lending a hand for help. But, the YouTube superstar MrBeast is changing this as he recently helped out 1,000 people suffering from cataracts, reports CNN. Jimmy Donaldson is popularly known as MrBeast and recently shared in a video, "We're curing a thousand people's blindness." According to WHO, cataracts is one of the leading cause of vision impairment and blindness across the world.

The film includes heartwarming before-and-after footage of people with clear vision following surgery. Some contestants also received financial donations and other items from the YouTube star. Donaldson collaborated with ophthalmologist and surgeon Jeff Levenson to execute the initial series of procedures in Jacksonville, Florida. For nearly 20 years, Levenson has organized the "Gift of Sight" initiative, which gives free cataract surgery to uninsured individuals who are legally blind due to cataracts. Levenson says in the video, "Half of all blindness in the world is people who need a 10-minute surgery."

Levenson told the outlet that he was inspired to assist individuals to have eye surgery after having his own cataract surgery. He said, "In the days and weeks after my own cataract surgery, I was stunned by how bright and beautiful and vivid the world was. 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."

In September, Levenson received a call from a member of Donaldson's staff. He said, "I had never heard of MrBeast. So I almost hung up. But I gratefully did not hang up." They began by contacting homeless shelters and free clinics in the Jacksonville region to compile a list of patients who required cataract surgery but could not afford it. They eventually had 40 patients and Levenson conducted all of their procedures in a single day, beginning at 7 a.m. and finishing at 6 p.m. People were in "disbelief that somebody would actually seek them out to rescue them from blindness and then have the kindness and generosity of spirit to offer the surgery."

The ophthalmologist also linked Donaldson's group to SEE International, where he is the chief medical officer. The non-profit organization provides free eye treatment to those in need all throughout the world. The organization assisted Donaldson in reaching even more patients, resulting in a total of 1,000 procedures conducted in three weeks. Patients in Jamaica, Honduras, Namibia, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam and Kenya are shown having the surgery in the video.

Levenson hopes that Donaldson's efforts inspire “a concerted effort to end needless blindness.” He said, "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."