2 years ago I developed a condition that left me almost blind as I couldn't afford surgery. Then a YouTuber offered to pay — and it changed everything.

• Jeffrey Yaple is a 64-year-old man from Jacksonville, Florida, who had cataracts for two years.
• Yaple was chosen to be in a MrBeast video, where the YouTuber paid for him to have cataract surgery.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jeffrey Yaple, and it has been edited for length and clarity.

My sight issues began 15 years ago, when I had to start wearing glasses. Then two years ago, I developed cataracts, and it got to the point where I could hardly see anything.

Unfortunately, my cataracts left me unable to do my job, which involved looking at computers, and I was not able to afford medical insurance or pay for surgery. I knew something had to be done.

A few months ago, a friend recommended I sign up for a Florida-based initiative called Vision is Priceless, which provides free eyecare to uninsured people. It turns out that at that time its president, Dr. Jeffrey Levenson, had just started collaborating with the world's biggest YouTuber, called MrBeast.

I remember Dr. Levenson coming up to me with a smiling face and telling me that MrBeast was going to pay for me to get eye surgery. I actually had no idea who MrBeast was at the time, and when Dr. Levenson said they were going to make a video out of it, I didn't really understand what was going on, but I played along because I wanted my eyes fixed.

I'm 64, and I feel that old dudes like me don't usually get to be involved with these big internet stars, so I don't know how I got so lucky, but I did.

Being able to finally see again was incredible

When I met MrBeast, who is 24 years old, on the day of the surgery, he and his crew were all smiles. I shook his hand twice and thanked him out of gratitude, but I also chatted to him like he was a regular guy because I didn't realize how big of a deal he was at the time. Maybe if I'd had watched some of his videos beforehand, I would have been more starstruck, but he was just like another kid to me.

After my surgery was done, and they took the bandages off, my brain was overloaded with information. The whites of my eyes were really white and the blues were really blue. Now, every day I wake up, and I can see my brand new TV. It's a great feeling, to see again.

When I was living with cataracts, one of the hardest things to deal with was that I couldn't drive. For a long time, I rode a bicycle to get groceries for myself and my brother, who is disabled, and that's really hard to do when you can't see properly.

Sometimes, I'd be carrying groceries and almost hit somebody who was coming in my direction because I'd only see them at the last second. It was agonizing, so I'm looking forward to driving again soon.

I watched MrBeast's video when it came out in January, and saw that I was featured for a few seconds. You can see me looking down at the watch on my wrist and commenting that I could finally read the time.

Some people seem to think I was exploited, but I'm just grateful for the experience

I initially hadn't heard much about the heated online debate that the YouTuber's video sparked online, but I was later told that some people accused MrBeast of paying for the surgeries as a stunt to get views and criticized the fact that we have to rely on millionaires to donate towards issues related to public health.

I personally don't think he was doing this for publicity. Everything he does is going to generate publicity because he's so famous, but I'm pretty sure this was from the heart.

We all know there are poor people and rich people in this world. How do rich people help poor people if somebody's always going to complain about it?

His video didn't make fun of anyone and he didn't exploit me. He was nice enough to pay for my surgery, and the way he helped all of us has actually inspired me to do more to help others in need, like people who are homeless and who ask me for help.

At the end of the day, there are always going to be haters, and I'm sure MrBeast knows that as well. Losers will always want to destroy winners and try and peck away at those who are winning in life.

The impact MrBeast had on me has only created positivity and no negativity whatsoever. I'd hope that some people who watch the video would agree and realize that there are still good people in this world.

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