Around the world, blindness has an impact on people’s lives, and MrBeast, a renowned YouTuber, is working to address the issue. With the assistance of Jacksonville, Florida, ophthalmologist and surgeon Dr. Jeff Levenson, Donaldson set out to help 1,000 people regain their vision.
For for over 20 years, Levenson has run the “Gift of Sight” initiative. If participants satisfy specific requirements, the program offers free cataract surgery to legally blind uninsured individuals. When the YouTube star called to inquire about a partnership, Levenson almost hung up since he had never heard of Donaldson.
Levenson said CNN: “I had never heard of MrBeast so I almost hung up. But gratefully did not hang up.”
The pair called around the Jacksonville region to identify the folks who needed assistance the most after confirming that Donaldson was in fact a real person who wished to assist others. Free clinics and homeless shelters, which paid for the surgery in the United States, provided them with a list of clients.
If you know anything about MrBeast, you know that some of the 40 patients who received surgery from Donaldson and Levenson in Florida were able to recover more than just their eyesight. Several of the patients received gifts totaling thousands of dollars, and they were just so grateful to get their sight back. In the video, a family broke down in tears when Donaldson presented them a check for $50,000 to cover college expenses, and one woman collapsed to the floor when he said that he was also giving her $10,000. One teen received his Tesla, his first automobile.
The amazing act of generosity continued beyond Florida. Levenson serves as the chief medical officer of SEE International, a charity that offers free eye treatment to people all around the world. Donaldson was able to assist other patients in need in numerous nations, including Mexico, Jamaica, Vietnam, and Brazil, among others, thanks to this foundation.
While Levenson tells Donaldson in the film that not all blindness is treatable, “Half of all blindness in the world is people who need a 10-minute surgery.”
This means that even while there is a rapid treatment, people who are unable to afford this procedure may simply have to accept the fact that they will forever be blind.
And because he had to undergo cataract surgery himself years ago, Levenson has direct experience with the discomfort of losing one’s vision as a result of cataracts. This experience kindled his desire for restoring sight to others.
It should come as no surprise that Donaldson, who is well-known for his charity and who has gathered more than 130 million subscribers on his YouTube page, would wish to collaborate with Levenson in order to do even more charitable work. Donaldson had accomplished his mission of restoring sight to one thousand individuals when all of the procedures were finished, but he still had one more surprise in store for them.
At the conclusion of the video, Mr. Beast was back in Florida with Levenson when he surprised the doctor by informing him of some unexpected news. Donaldson had given Levenson’s group a donation of one hundred thousand dollars.
Levenson responded by placing his hand over his chest and declaring, “It’ll bring sight to thousands of people.”
Take a look at the inspiring video down below: