An NFT celebration, Apefest, hosted by Yuga Labs to honor the Bored Ape Yacht Club, took a distressing turn as reports of eye injuries emerged from the event. At least 15 attendees in Hong Kong last weekend claimed to have suffered vision problems, which they suspect were caused by the intense stage lighting. Some of these individuals have received diagnoses of photokeratitis, commonly referred to as “welder’s eye,” a condition resulting from exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.

One Apefest attendee, Crypto June, shared their ordeal on X/Twitter, stating, “I woke up in the middle of the night after Apefest with so much pain in my eyes that I had to go to the hospital. The doctor told me it was due to the UV from the stage lights.” User @docwagmi pointed out that those experiencing issues seemed to have been positioned up close to the stage, suggesting a possible connection.

Amidst concerns, Adrian Zduńczyk urged fellow attendees on X, saying, “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.” Fortunately, Zduńczyk’s prompt medical attention spared him from long-term damage, as his vision remained nearly perfect with no significant cornea damage.

Yuga Labs briefly acknowledged the issue on X, stating that they are “aware of the eye-related issues that affected some of the attendees of ApeFest” and are “proactively reaching out to individuals since yesterday to try and find the potential root causes.” The company downplayed the number of people reporting issues, claiming that “much less than 1% of those attending and working the event had these symptoms.” Yuga Labs advised attendees experiencing symptoms to “seek medical attention just in case.”

However, X users expressed dissatisfaction with Yuga Labs’ public response to the situation, as highlighted in their tweets.

This incident bears similarities to a 2017 occurrence at a HypeBeast party where attendees reported eye damage. It was later revealed that the lighting contractor had used Philips bulbs emitting UV-C, typically utilized as a disinfectant.