Well in one respect, this kind of proves that no good deed goes unpunished - stunt or not, he's genuinely helping people, and I would say his critics should STFU except that he also seems to have some rather unsavory personality traits (mentioned briefly in the article) that are fair game for criticism. But that said, I'm a little astounded that this philanthropy is something that people would waste time criticizing, since it is helping restore sight to people who otherwise would remain blind.

Also anyone who thinks that people should just live with their dissabilities and join some kind of community of others with the same condition, when that condition is easily addressed by available and affordable medical intervention can go straight to hell. It's one thing if nothing can be done about a condition, but if for example I were going deaf and a Cochlear implant would help and you tried to talk me out of it, I would probably want to punch you square in the face. Most people don't want to just live with a disability if something can be done to mitigate it, but there are a few who would rather join a community of others like themselves and the complain about people who are "ableists" because they don't want to be part of their little pity party. I am NOT talking about people who have conditions that can't be helped by medical intervention, or who can't afford the cost of or don't have access to such intervention, or who have other valid reasons for not getting that help and who don't try to force their choices on other similarly situated people. I'm only talking about the people who don't want such help but don't want anyone else to get it either, and hurl slurs and hate at the people who do accept such intervention and those who provide it.

The real bastards are the people who try to deny such interventions to children, in cases where the rewards can be great and the risks are small. I have nothing but contempt for those people. I had better stop here (but take a guess how I feel about anti-vaxxers).