Viral YouTuber ‘MrBeast’ stops in Jacksonville on quest to cure blindness in 1,000 people

The Gift of Sight is the latest stunt from MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson. He paid the full cost for cataract surgeries which restored vision for 40 people living in Jacksonville.

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Donaldson is one of the most successful YouTube creators in the world with 130 million subscribers. He’s famous for his philanthropic acts of raising and donating millions of dollars to strangers and charities.

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This time, he teamed up with local eye surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Levenson to transform lives.

Levenson is an ophthalmologist in Jacksonville who’s been practicing since 1988. He’s the founding director of the ophthalmology practice Levenson Eye Associates and also serves on the board of directors for Vision Is Priceless, a nonprofit which helps people with financial hardship gain access to vision care.

The process to team up and help people regain their eyesight all started last September, when Levenson got the call from Donaldson’s team saying, “We wanna do 1,000 cataract surgeries all around the world in three weeks,” Levenson recalled.

“And I’d never heard of MrBeast and I almost hung up the phone,” he admitted with a chuckle.

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“But fortunately, I didn’t!”

On the flip side, Donaldson knew exactly who Levenson was, because he came across a TED Talk. Levenson gave in Santa Barbara, California about ending preventable blindness.

“My dream to end blindness seemed to be going nowhere but he saw the TED Talk and he was moved by it,” Levenson said.

So, before embarking on his international trip, Donaldson made a stop in Jacksonville on October 7.

Donaldson paid the cost of cataract surgery for 40 people who couldn’t afford it, at a cost of $3,100 each.

In the YouTube video, Donaldson can be seen donating several thousand more dollars to the patients he just met. For instance, he presented a woman who had just walked out of surgery with a briefcase full of money, telling her, “here’s $10,000 to make your day better,” to which she responded by dropping to the floor in disbelief.

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In the video, we also learn the story of Satchel, a young boy who said he had poor vision since birth and almost his entire vision after a go-karting accident. He told Donaldson his impaired vision meant he couldn’t drive. So, after his successful surgery, Donaldson surprised him with his own Tesla in order for him to finally exercise his driving privilege.

“[MrBeast] was generous well beyond what you see on the videos,” Levenson emphasized.

“It’s inspiring. You see people like that and you wanna be more like them.”

Levenson also stressed that, “Nobody in the City of Jacksonville should be blind for the need of a simple cataract surgery. It’s a 10 minute surgery.”

Levenson explained cataract surgery is needed once the lens in the eye becomes clouded, almost like a fogged up mirror in a bathroom. That lens needs to be replaced so Levenson suctions it out with an instrument, and replaces it with a plastic lens which restores vision to the patient almost instantaneously.

“It gives them their life back,” he added, explaining how people can now become independent and not rely on others for simple day-to-day tasks.

Levenson donates his time to perform these surgeries as part of his work for the nonprofit, Vision Is Priceless. The other costs are covered with donations.

But, he believes if more people follow Donaldsons’ example, “We can assure that no one in our city is sightless for the need of cataract surgery.”

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To find out more about Vision Is Priceless and how you can donate to future free cataract surgery events, you can visit https://visionispriceless.org/gift-of-sight/

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