Ninja Reveals Surgery And Insane Recovery

A lot of streamers and professional gamers live very public lives. But it's quite easy to forget sometimes that there are still some things many fans don't know about them. Take Ninja, for instance. Though you may feel you know Tyler Blevins inside and out at this point, he still keeps a few things close to his chest.

Fans found out about one of those details recently on Instagram.

"A lot of people don't know that I'm almost completely blind in my right eye," Ninja wrote, attaching an image of said eye in not so great shape. Ninja explained that, a couple of years back, he was playing Destiny on stream when he started to experience some pain in his eye. Upon visiting an eye doctor, it was determined that Ninja's retina had detached. Ouch.

Ninja went on to talk about the "multiple cataract surgeries" he's had since then, stating that he was told he "could have went completely blind in that eye." As it stands, Ninja is thankful for what he calls "one good eye and a career."

This revelation is remarkable for a couple of reasons.

To start, it's something fairly significant about Ninja that a lot of fans were in the dark about. As stated earlier, many streamers are pretty open about their lives and what they do. Ninja himself spends a lot of time in the spotlight, whether he's streaming, posting photos on Instagram, or sharing videos on Twitter. It's kind of amazing he was able to keep this a secret for so long.

It's even more stunning when you consider what Ninja does for a living. Ninja is a former professional gamer and one of the biggest names in streaming. A huge part of his job involves using his eyes, whether he's blasting away at other players in Fortnite or simply reading the messages fans leave in chat. Learning that he's been doing all of that while "almost completely blind" in one eye is quite incredible.

And it really speaks to how good he is, doesn't it? As one fan commenting on Ninja's Instagram post put it, "He got one good eye and he's still turning [your] favorite you tubers into bots." Ninja may not be able to see out of his right eye as well now, but he's still snatching up Victory Royales like they're cereal boxes in Supermarket Sweep.

This story about Ninja has once again reminded fans, however, that Ninja still doesn't have a streaming home at this moment in time. Ninja bailed on Twitch in the summer of 2019 to join Mixer, a competing platform owned by Microsoft. Unfortunately, that move was short-lived. Mixer closed its doors a few days back, leaving many in the lurch, including Ninja.

That's not to say Ninja didn't have a fallback if he wanted to take it. Microsoft partnered with Facebook Gaming to ensure Mixer streamers had somewhere to go. Ninja himself was reportedly offered somewhere in the neighborhood of $60 million to stream on Facebook and become the new star of that platform. Amazingly, though, Ninja turned that money down, with some speculating that he did so in order to protect the very valuable Ninja brand he built. Where he'll end up is still a total mystery, though he did stream live on YouTube a few weeks back. Some suspect this is where he might land, but no one knows for certain.

As it stands now, most of Ninja's new content comes in the form of looks at older Fortnite clips. While Ninja hashes out whatever he'll be doing next, it seems he's leaning a lot on what came before to hold fans over. He is still sharing photos and videos on Twitter and Instagram, however, so if you need your Ninja fix — and you don't care to watch old gameplay — those might be the channels to watch.

You might even catch another story like the one about Ninja's eye. The streamer has certainly had more time to think and reflect these past few weeks. Perhaps his extended vacation away from streaming Fortnite and Valorant has made him more apt to share personal details. Who knows — maybe there are a few other secrets about Ninja fans aren't aware of.

We will definitely be keeping tabs on Ninja's social media accounts while he's on his streaming hiatus. If Ninja shares any other personal stories — or if the streamer finally figures out where he'll continue his career — we'll be sure to let you know.