YouTuber nearly blinded by harrowing ocean stunt undergoes death-defying five-hour procedure to get vision back

YouTuber Jeff Wittek has undergone a five-hour surgery to correct his vision after he was seriously injured in a social media stunt more than four years ago.

Wittek, 34, was seen holding onto a rope hung from the raised arm of a spinning excavator, which popular content creator David Dobrik was operating, in the since-deleted video that was filmed in June 2020. 

As a result of that incident going wrong, Wittek was forced to shell out $90,000 for the procedure conducted by Dr. Leif Rogers, a plastic surgeon based in Beverly Hills, California.

In an Instagram post, Wittek shared pictures from before, during and after the surgery, including one where he posed with Dr. Rogers.

'Yesterday, Dr. Leif Rogers and his team of avengers did a massive five-hour surgery to take out some metal plates and adjust my eyes a few millimeters forward to hopefully fix my double vision,' the influencer wrote to his 2.5 million Instagram followers. 

'Thanks for all the kind words and support from all of u,' he added.

'Already feel like I can run through a brick wall.'

The excavator video became a huge controversy for Dobrik, who has allegedly refused to pay for Wittek's medical expenses.

In the video, Dobrik appeared to be in control of the excavator as he whirled around the machine over water, but when it accelerated he lost control.

Then, when it suddenly slowed and stopped, Wittek could be seen colliding into its metal arm and falling into the water below, where he dangled from the rope by his still-entangled leg. 

Following the incident, Wittek said that his skull was left shattered in nine places, that he broke his foot and hip, tore a ligament in his leg, and almost lost his eye.

He has since posted on social media that he is continuing to suffer the effects of the prank. 

Wittek is now suing Dobrik for 'general negligence and intentional tort' as he seeks $10 million in damages for the prankster's stunt.

He has alleged that Dobrik's actions caused him to rack up hospital bills from extensive surgeries, and forced him to miss out on work, according to the suit acquired by TMZ.

It also claims that the stunt was Dobrik's idea, and that his operation of the excavator lead to Wittek's extensive injuries.

The suit said that the initial idea for the stunt was to place the excavator in the water, and then to pull people along the surface on wakeboards and other objects.

Wittek alleged that after a few takes following the original plan, Dobrik suggested that people hold onto the rope themselves while he swung them around by the excavator.

During his turn, Wittek alleged that Dobrik noticed he had begun to spin the excavator too quickly and slowed down suddenly to compensate, directly causing Wittek to collide with the machine's arm.

Yet, Dobrik has previously insisted that the crane stunt was Wittek's idea, and that he had asked Dobrik to promise never to tell anyone. 

'I think one of the main reasons Jeff is bummed with me right now is because he saw me do an interview where I said something that I promised him I'd keep between us,' Dobrik said on his podcast VIEWS in March 2022. 'He's pissed that I broke a promise.'

'He's like, "Can you promise me one thing? Can you just promise that no one ever knows that this was my idea?''

'He got hurt because I was driving,' Dobrik said, 'That's it, and I f***ing know that, and like I said, any chance I would get, I would take that back. 

'That'll be the biggest regret of my life. My entire life. I really hope there's not a moment that I regret as much as that one.'

Wittek also spoke out in May, after Dobrik signed a deal with Snapchat to exclusively post his content.

'Yooo @Snapchat, you're paying a guy that smashed my skull in for a prank and left me with lifelong injuries,' he posted on X.

'He also filmed and organized multiple sexual assaults. That's why I stopped posting. I don't want his blood money.'

When Snapchat asked for more information, Wittek replied: 'His name is @DavidDobrik and he's traveling the world partying on your dime. While I have another surgery next month.'

The sexual assault case referred to a woman who came forward in 2021 to claim that a member of Dobrik's Vlog Squad raped her in 2018 while she was involved in a threesome - that Dobrik filmed and put online.

The woman told Business Insider she was too drunk to give vlogger Dom Zeglaitis consent, and she was raped. 

In response, Dobrik put out a video saying he 'fully believe[d] the woman who came out against Dom and said she was sexually assaulted and raped by him.'

He then claimed he got approval from the woman back in 2018 to post the video, but acknowledged he 'should never have posted it,' and apologized.

The video - which had garnered 5million views, was then removed, according to NBC News. 

In another follow-up video, Dobrik said he had stopped filming with Zeglaitis in 2019, and announced he would step back from social media to build a 'checks and balances' system in which 'people communicate discomfort in a way that's comfortable for them.

'It doesn't feel right to go back to posting like I have been, and it also doesn't feel right to go dark because I love what I do, but I think it is important to show that change is possible and that I'm learning maybe even forgiveness is possible,' he said in the video. 

'I want to use this opportunity to step up and own my mistakes,' Dobrik said at the time. 'This is my beginning to an end, and I'm sorry to everyone that I hurt.'