Inside MrBeast's Effort to Help 2,000 People Walk Again
MrBeast ミスタービースト
This video sets out to help 2,000 people walk again by paying for prosthetic limbs and, in some cases, surgeries. The host opens by noting that most people take walking for granted, while millions of amputees worldwide don't have that luxury. The project starts with individual fittings in the United States, moves to Guatemala and Ecuador with a nonprofit that makes prosthetics cheaply, and then goes to Kenya and other countries. It ends at a wedding and with the host's frustration that a YouTuber stepping in is some people's only hope.
First Fittings: Stephanie, Colleen and Others
The first person helped is Stephanie, who says she has not walked on her own since 2009, almost 15 years. She says she is nervous. She is given a new leg, puts it on, says it "feels wonderful" and "fits wonderful," and stands and walks for the first time in that period. Her father is asked whether it warms his heart to see her move around again. He says it does and that he is glad she can do what she wants and "not be a prisoner anymore." The two can now look each other in the eyes, and they dance together.
The same process is repeated for Colleen, who had not walked for seven months and calls it "amazing to have another chance." The narration adds that David, Adrian, Linda and Kharid were also helped. The host acknowledges that the project depended on outside help, and one of the professionals involved describes the work simply: "We've replaced limbs that people have lost."
Why Cost Is the Barrier
The host asks what a prosthesis like these typically costs. The answer is "anywhere from 5 to 50,000" dollars. According to the narration, most people in the video either could not afford insurance or lacked adequate coverage. Without the project, they might never have walked again. One professional describes what happens when insurance won't pay: "You hope and fundraise and pray that someone like you comes along."
One recipient says that buying the prosthetic on their own would have taken about ten years. The host calls that "obviously not okay" and sends the person home with $10,000 as well. The recipient calls it a day they will never forget. The host jokes that they came in with one leg and are leaving with two and a briefcase full of money, and the recipient answers, "Best day of my life." Others in this segment say the new limb "feels so real, like it's part of me," and that walking without the financial burden is "life changing."
Daily Life: Greg
The narration says the team learned that losing the ability to walk also means losing the ability to do basic tasks. Greg says everything is "twice as hard as it used to be." He used to play tennis with his family all the time, but says he would be happy just to stand up and do the dishes. When his new leg is fitted, he gets straight up and says, "It makes you smile."
Travis and His Daughter's Wedding
Travis has a specific goal: his daughter's wedding. She has been planning it since she was three or four years old and has always dreamed of having her father walk her down the aisle. Travis says he used to run six or seven days a week "if I was bored." At 17 he was in a car wreck and developed osteomyelitis, and that is how he lost his feet. Asked how long it had been since he walked normally, he says, "I don't know what normal is anymore."
He receives two prosthetic legs, a right and a left. He takes his first steps and then walks without holding onto anything. The crew remarks that he is walking better than some of the people with one leg, and he says he will surely start running. They tell him he can now walk his daughter down the aisle, and he adds the father-daughter dance.
The host then reveals that he had asked the groom how much the wedding would cost. That exact amount is placed on the wheelchair, and the team covers the whole wedding. Travis thanks the groom for keeping it secret. The crew asks whether they are invited, and they are, on the condition that they bring some Feastables. The narration promises they will attend later in the video.
Guatemala: Recycled Components and the Range of Motion Project
The host notes that the team is paying for every prosthetic in the video, but that won't always be the case. A price of $5,000 to $50,000 is already too much for most people, and the host says it weighs even more heavily in developing countries. That takes the team to Guatemala to meet David, who founded the Range of Motion Project (ROMP) to address the lack of prosthetics for the underprivileged.
David says one way prosthetic care reaches the poor is through poor technology. He attributes the high cost to "very expensive pieces of technology." The narration says David found a way to maintain quality at one tenth of the cost. His approach is a global inventory of recycled components. Everything in the room shown on camera comes from other prosthetics, and David notes that much of it is still functional. The host directs viewers who want to donate a prosthetic to ROMP's website. According to the narration, this is how ROMP keeps costs low enough to serve "the poorest of the poor," and it lets the project help more people in Guatemala.
The montage that follows shows recipients riding motorcycles, playing soccer, and hugging family. One person says in Spanish that the first thing they want to do is walk with their family. Another says it feels as if their life has been returned. The narration describes one fitting as watching a child "reclaim their independence" and says a new limb can mean everything at any stage of life.
Reaching Remote Patients: The Truck and Kevin
David explains that some people can't even get to the clinic. Guatemala is mountainous and hard to travel in, with rivers to cross and jungles to get through. Not being able to walk, he says, traps patients in their homes, so he sometimes has to visit them himself. When the host asks where the truck is for these trips, the staff say they don't have one. According to the narration, most of ROMP's resources go to staff and the prosthetics themselves, so the organization can't afford reliable transportation.
With the staff's help, and without telling David, the team arranges a new $65,000 truck marked with ROMP's name and equipped for difficult terrain. They break it in by delivering legs. The farther they get from Guatemala City, the more the host understands David's warning. The road to a home on the side of a volcano in the jungle is one the host says no normal car could handle.
There they meet Kevin, who was severely burned and lost both legs in an accident 24 years ago. The terrain is too rough for him to get around alone, so someone has to push him in a wheelchair. After his fitting, he walks down the side of the volcano and calls his mother over. She says in Spanish that many people like them are struggling, and she thanks God their paths crossed. The narration says Kevin is the 71st person the project has helped walk again.
Ecuador: Kelly, Eduardo and Other Patients
The host and David continue to Ecuador. Kelly spent six days on buses from Bolivia without knowing whether she would get a prosthetic. She says it was very scary because she had never left her country, but she decided to take the risk. The host says, "This is why we're doing this video." Kelly had not walked in two years. After her first steps, she asks the host to dance with her. He admits he doesn't know what he's doing and marvels that she is dancing on her first day walking in two years. She says in Spanish, "It feels real!"
Eduardo, five years old, kisses his new leg. He had not walked in months. His mother says he had been dragging himself around and was embarrassed about not having a leg. Another child, a girl who had not walked in over a year, is fitted while her parent describes the moment as "very emotional, very exciting." Here the host calls this "honestly my favorite video." In another visit, after meeting someone named Fede, the team hands over a prosthetic described as "100% free." The recipient calls it a blessing and describes walking again as "a really huge happiness."
The Mountain Hike
According to the narration, 50 amputees were helped in Ecuador. David shares one of his favorite rituals: taking patients hiking on a nearby mountain to break in their new prosthetics. His reasoning is that if they can climb this mountain, they can get through daily life. If someone can reach a new summit with a disability, he says, "you might feel that anything else is possible."
The host finds the climb hard himself and notes that one man went from not walking to hiking up a mountain. He admits he didn't fully understand the point of the hike at first. By the end, he says he understood it was meant to show the patients they could overcome nearly anything with their new prosthetics. He describes their persistence and ambition as unlike anything he had seen and calls the trip's theme "refusing to give up." At the summit he tells the group he is proud of them and that the view is their reward.
Kenya and Beyond
In Kenya, the focus changes to children who still have their legs but need expensive surgeries to use them, and the team pays for those surgeries. According to the narration, some of the children had never walked before. One describes falling while trying to walk, being laughed at by classmates, and sometimes being unable to go to school. After the surgery, the child says, "I can walk like the other people." The team also paid for a new playroom at the clinic.
The host then speeds up the account. After Kenya, the team went to other parts of Africa and then to the Philippines, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. Recipients in these segments say their family, financial situation and everything they know will change, and that it is "like a second chance" and they "feel alive again." The host says that after visiting countries around the world, the team witnessed 2,000 first steps.
The Wedding
The video returns to Travis. The crew jokes about attending a wedding for people they met 24 hours earlier and about Nolan's shirt. Travis walks his daughter down the aisle on his new legs, and the couple is introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. The host says watching it made him reflect on everyone affected by the video. Travis says he was able to walk her down the aisle and that it was "just amazing."
Closing Remarks: "I Don't Know What the Answer Is"
The host ends differently from usual. He says it "doesn't sit right" with him that some of these people had insurance and were denied, and others had insurance without the right coverage. Their only hope of getting a prosthetic leg, so they could walk again and get a job, was for a YouTuber to step in, which he calls "absurd." He says he doesn't know what the answer is. He wanted to raise the issue so that the "100 million people" watching might be inspired to act, because what he saw while filming was "obviously not okay."
In this video, we're gonna help 2,000 people walk again!
The video you are about to watch is unlike anything we've ever done. Walking is something most of us take for granted every day, but for millions of amputees all around the world, they don't have that same luxury. But in this video, for 2,000 people, that is about to change.
I had an accident back in 2020 and I shattered both of my ankles.
When he first got sick, they didn’t think he would live another year.
I was in a car wreck when I was 17. That's how I lost my feet.
And to kick things off, we're going to help Stephanie.
Hi! How's it going? Good. We're so excited you're here. I'm so nervous.
How long has it been since you've been able to walk on your own? I have not walked on my own since 2009. Almost 15 years since you've been able to walk on your own. Yeah.
We might have something that could change that. This is your brand new leg. Here you go. Thank you. What do you think of it? Oh my gosh! I love her.
You ready to try it on? I am. Okay, let's slide it on in. Okay. What do you think? Feels wonderful. All right. You ready to stand up?
For the first time in 15 years, Stephanie is actually walking.
It fits wonderful. That's my dad.
Does it warm your heart to be able to see her move around again? Yes. Very much so. I'm just glad that she's going to be able to get to do something she wants to. Not be a prisoner anymore.
You guys can look each other in the eyes now. We can dance. And that's exactly what they did.
It felt so good to be able to help Stephanie and her family. So we did the same thing for Colleen.
It's been seven months since you were able to walk. I'm ready. Let's do it. It's amazing to have another chance.
And we helped David, Adrian, Linda and Kharid. But to be honest, we could not have pulled this off without the help of some incredible people.
We've replaced limbs that people have lost. What’s the typical cost for someone to get a prosthesis like this? Anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000.
And it sounds crazy, but most of the people in this video either cannot afford insurance or did not have adequate coverage, meaning if we didn't step in, they might not have ever walked again.
And if insurance doesn't cover that, what do you do? You hope and fundraise and pray that someone like you comes along.
This would take me about ten years. Wait, to buy this on your own would have taken ten years? Yes. That's... Chandler!
Obviously that's not okay. So we're gonna send you home with $10,000.
This is a day in my life I would never forget. No problem. You came in with one leg, and now you're leaving with two and a briefcase full of money. Best day of my life.
Oh, man, it feels awesome. It feels so real. Like it's part of me.
You can walk again, and you don't have the financial burden. This is life changing. Here I am now. I’m very thankful.
As we learned through this process, when you lose your ability to walk, you also lose the ability to do life's most basic tasks, something that Greg knows all too well.
Everything’s twice as hard as it used to be. I played tennis all the time with the family, but I'd be happy just being able to stand up and do the dishes.
Okay, let's see how your new leg fits. All right, he's getting right into it. It's a good feeling, stand up. All right. How's it feel? I tell you what. It makes you smile.
When you're an amputee, everyday activities can feel like insurmountable tasks. But for Travis, there's a special occasion coming up that he just can't do sitting down.
My daughter's been planning her wedding since she was 3 or 4 years old.
I've always dreamed of having my dad walk me down the aisle.
Do you mind telling us a little bit about yourself? Yeah, I used to run six, seven days a week if I was bored. And I was in a car wreck when I was 17, had osteomyelitis, and that's how I lost my feet.
How long has it been since you're able to walk normally? I don't know what normal is anymore.
Are you guys excited to see him walk again? Yes. Yeah. Super excited. Here's your right leg. Here you go. And here's the left leg.
This is awesome. You got this! First step. Do you wanna go for it? He's walking better than some of the people with one leg. You’re making this look easy. I'mma surely start running.
What's it like to see him walking? It’s awesome. I'm excited. No hands. No hands.
Now you can walk her down the aisle. Yeah. Down the aisle, have the father-daughter dance.
I know this wedding is important to all of you, which is why I asked your soon-to-be husband how much the wedding would cost. And on this wheelchair is the exact amount. We're gonna cover the entire cost of your wedding. And now your dad can join you down the aisle.
Thank you. Thank you for not telling her. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
The real question though is... are we invited? Yeah. Gotta bring some Feastables. Deal.
And he wasn't kidding. Later in this video, we actually do go to Travis's daughter's wedding.
And while we're paying for all the prosthetics in this video, that won't always be the case. And while $5,000 to $50,000 is already too expensive for most people, that price tag is felt even heavier in developing countries, which is what brought me to Guatemala to meet David, who founded the Range of Motion Project to address the lack of prosthetics for the underprivileged.
One of the ways that prosthetic care gets delivered to the poor is poor technology. So what makes it so expensive? Very expensive pieces of technology.
And David found a simple way to maintain quality at only one tenth the cost.
Everything that you see here is part of our global inventory of recycled components. So everything in this room is recycled from some other prosthetic? A lot of it is still functional.
So if you have a prosthetic that you want to donate so he can use it to help more people, just go to this website right here. That's how he's able to make it so cheap so he can help the poorest of the poor all around the world. And for us, that means we can help even more people.
And for us, that means we can help even more people get back to their full lives here in Guatemala.
From everything as adventurous as riding motorcycles.
You're making this look easy.
Playing soccer, down to the smallest pleasures of life.
You guys are adorable.
The first thing I want to do is walk with my family.
It's like you returned my life.
You're taller than your mom.
Like hugging your family.
How's it going, everybody? Let's take our first step together.
We're watching a child reclaim their independence. At any stage of life, a new limb can mean everything.
And by the end of the day, we have helped so many people. But our mission was just getting started.
You were saying some people can't even make it to the facility.
It's just a mountainous, tough country to travel in, rivers that people have to cross, jungles that people have to get through. Not being able to walk is really kind of trapping patients in their homes.
Which is why David sometimes has to leave the clinic and visit the patients in their own home, which comes with its own difficulties.
Where's your truck at?
I thought we were taking you guys' cars.
No, I... We don't have a truck.
You don't have a truck to go reach these people in remote places?
No.
With the bulk of ROMP's resources going into staff and the prosthetics themselves, they can't afford reliable transportation to get to hard-to-reach patients. That is, until now.
I could have sworn that was your truck. If it's not, why does it say ROMP on the side?
We worked with the staff, none of them told him.
This brand new $65,000 truck is fully equipped to traverse even the most difficult terrain.
Thank you guys.
Congrats, man. Let's go break it in by giving away some legs.
All right.
And the further away we got from the bustling streets of Guatemala City, I realized David wasn't kidding when he said these places were hard to get to, as we headed to a home located on the side of a literal volcano in the middle of the jungle.
I now understand why this truck was so valuable.
Oh my...
Yeah, I could not imagine driving a normal car down this road.
We finally made it here, and our journey up the volcano brought us here to meet Kevin.
Hello.
Who was left severely burned and without either of his legs in an accident 24 years ago.
You're living on the side of a volcano. How do you get around? This is very difficult terrain.
It's rather difficult, because...
It's too rough for him, so someone actually does need to push him in a wheelchair.
And that ends today.
Thank you.
You're about to take your first step.
All right, now we're walking down the side of the volcano.
Come on over here, Mom.
I love you! Bless you!
There are a lot of us that are struggling, and I thank God for allowing our paths to cross.
That made Kevin the 71st person we've helped walk again. And David and I took that momentum with us to help even more people over here in Ecuador.
Like Kelly, who spent six days busing from Bolivia to here, not even knowing if she would get a prosthetic.
It was very scary because I've never left my country, and I still decided to risk it!
This is why we're doing this video right here.
All right, it's been two years since you walked. It's a big moment. You want to take your first step?
I am happy!
Kelly was so happy to be walking again that she then asked this.
Can I dance?
You want to dance?!
Yes. The thing is... Would you accompany me?
You want me to dance? Yes.
Oh, boy. I don't know what I'm doing.
You wouldn't even believe this is her first time walking in two years, and she started dancing. What?
It feels real!
And even though I clearly don't know how to dance, watching this family be reunited with such an important part of their past meant the world to me.
Thank you!
And as for Eduardo, he had a really touching reaction to getting his new leg.
He kissed it, that was adorable.
He hasn't walked in months, which is obviously a shame because he's only five years old. It's a big moment. Whenever you're ready, Eduardo.
The mom was saying that he would have to drag himself around and was even embarrassed of not having a leg, so to see him moving like this is wonderful.
Here you go. All right, you want to throw it on?
What's it like seeing your daughter walk again?
Very emotional! Very exciting!
Look at this. She hasn't walked in over a year. This is honestly my favorite video. This is crazy.
Hello. How's it going?
Oh my God!
Hi! How are you? I'm fine.
Meeting Fede is cool and all, but the real reason we're here is your brand new prosthetic. This is all yours. 100% free.
Thank you so much! I'm so thankful. This is a blessing.
How does it feel to walk again?
A really huge happiness.
And to further inspire strength in the 50 amputees we helped here in Ecuador, David shared with us one of his favorite rituals.
We love to take them hiking on that mountain.
And now we're going to climb this mountain to break in their new prosthetics!
If they can climb this mountain, they can get through daily life.
I can see the symbolism of this task. Let the journey begin.
All right. This is actually pretty hard. This guy went from not walking to literally hiking up a mountain. It's truly amazing.
You really like to challenge these patients.
If you can reach a new height, reach a new summit with a disability, you might feel that anything else is possible.
And I saw just that. The amount of persistence and ambition that these amputees showcased was unlike anything I had seen before.
This is what this trip is all about, is refusing to give up. I'll be honest, I didn't fully understand why we were climbing this mountain, but now I get it. It's to show them that if they can climb this mountain, they can essentially overcome anything with their brand new prosthetic.
We made it to the top.
Good job. If you guys can hike this mountain, you can do anything. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you guys.
I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you guys. And our reward now is this beautiful view.
Now we're gonna head all the way over to Kenya, where we found a bunch of kids who still have their legs but needed expensive surgeries to be able to use them, which, of course, we paid for.
Look at that. Before the surgery, some of these kids have never walked their entire lives. And now look at them.
When I tried to walk, I could find myself now not knowing the way I fell down. I was being laughed at by my fellow students. So sometimes I could not go to school.
How did that feel, taking your first steps?
I can walk like the other people. So this makes me so happy.
And along with providing these life-changing surgeries, we also provided a brand new playroom at this clinic for the kids to enjoy.
Come check out the new playroom!
And at this point I'm gonna pick up the pace a little bit because after Kenya, we went all over Africa helping people walk again.
My family, my financial status and everything I know is going to change.
And from there we went to the Philippines, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.
Thank you so much for helping us. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
It's like a second chance for me. I feel alive again. My heart is beating!
And after visiting countries all around the world and witnessing 2,000 first steps, I'm glad to say we could help change the lives of so many people all across the world. But as you’ll remember from earlier in this video, we still have a wedding we need to attend.
Which is weirder, the fact we’re at a wedding of people we met 24 hours ago? Or Nolan’s shirt?
Nolan’s shirt, a hundred percent.
What is this little rope?
Travis is about to walk his daughter down the aisle. Let’s see if his brand new legs work. It's a big moment.
I've always dreamed of having my dad walk me down the aisle.
I'm about to cry, dude.
This is awesome.
Now I'm happy to give you all Mr. and Mrs. Anderson.
Watching Travis walk his daughter down the aisle made me reflect on all the people's lives who were impacted throughout this video.
I was able to walk her down the aisle. It was just amazing. Thank you guys so much.
Hey, guys, I want to end this video a little differently than normal. And I wanted to say that the fact that some of these people had insurance and were denied, some of these people had insurance but didn't have the right coverage, it just doesn't sit right with me.
Their only hope right now of getting a prosthetic leg so they can walk again, so they can go get a job, is for a YouTuber to step in and help them, which is absurd.
I don't know what the answer is, but I wanted to say this so the 100 million people watching this can get inspired because what I saw when filming this video is just obviously not okay.
Thanks for watching.
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