Bored Ape NFT event leaves attendees with 'extreme' eye injuries and 'unable to see'
Topics: Health, Social Media, Twitter, World News
Poppy Bilderbeck
Featured Image Credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images / X/@CryptoJune777
Topics: Health, Social Media, Twitter, World News
ApeFest attendees took to social media to speak out about their eyesight after going to the festival.
Bored Ape creator Yuga Labs Inc. hosted the Hong Kong festival from 3 to 5 November in celebration of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project - 'a collection of 10,000 unique Bored Ape NFTs - unique collectibles living on the Ethereum blockchain', according to its website.
While the event has been praised as 'incredible,' some ApeFest-goers have spoken out online, claiming they've had to seek medical attention after developing eye injuries since attending.
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One attendee took to X - formerly known as Twitter - yesterday (5 November) claiming they woke up after coming back from the festival and 'couldn't see anymore'.
They said: "I woke up at 04:00 and [...] had so much pain and my whole skin is burned. Needed to go to the hospital.
"The doctor told me the UV of the lightning of the stage did it. It has the same effect as sunlight. Still can not see normally."
Another echoed: "Anyone else's eyes burning from last night? Woke up at 3am with extreme pain and ended up in the ER."
A third user wrote: "Posting that in hope that my friends suffering the same issue realise they need medical attention ASAP (read full).
"Thanks for great apefest logistiscs guys @yugalabs & @BoredApeYC. Incredible event and met plenty of amazing people. Still, as dozens of others, I’ve almost lost sight this night.
"I’m being taken care of by doctors now and have only good intentions writing this post. To all my friends who suffer now: go get your eyes checked. You’ve likely most literally got your eyes burnt with UV like I did, which requires medications, eye drops, eye protection, antibiotics and specialist care. Don’t ignore this health hazard. Without proper treatment, it may cause long lasting vision impairment and other serious damage.
"To the organisers: For the communication & awareness reasons, it would be fair to put together an official statement with recommendations what to do, as dozens of people you care about were exposed to serious health hazards and lots of suffering. You’re good guys so it should be easy for you to recognise the seriousness of it."
In a follow-up post, the user explained he's been diagnosed with 'photokeratitis over both eyes' and was prescribed steroid eye drops and eye lubricants.
Bored Ape Yacht Club has since taken to its X account to address the claims.
The post reads: "Apes, we are aware of the eye-related issues that affected some of the attendees of ApeFest and have been proactively reaching out to individuals since yesterday to try and find the potential root causes.
"Based on our estimates, we believe that much less than one percent of those attending and working the event had these symptoms.
"While nearly everyone has indicated their symptoms have improved, we encourage anybody who feels them to seek medical attention just in case."
A Yuga Labs spokesperson echoed this in a statement to The Verge, noting the company has been in 'directed communication' with '15 people' out of the 'approximately 2,250' people - including festival goers and members of staff - who attended the event on Saturday night.
UNILAD has contacted Yuga Labs for comment.