It should be a blast for the really hard fans. Only those who own one of the “Bored App Yacht Club” NFTs, which were traded for hundreds of thousands of euros two years ago, were invited to the “Ape Fest” in Hong Kong last weekend. “A big night full of surprises,” the invitation promised, it was supposed to be great chaos. But a few days later, participants at the evening party complained of strange symptoms – from sunburn to temporary blindness.
The first complaints were made on Sunday. “Does anyone else have eyes that burn like that from yesterday,” complained X user “Feld”. Others quickly came forward. Many woke up at night in pain and had burning skin and eyes. In some cases there was complete loss of vision, but this has apparently remained temporary. The cause was initially a mystery. “I was in the hospital. Nobody could help me,” complains “0xTangle”.
The organizer has now also confirmed the problems – and also confirmed a suspicion that has been expressed several times. In a long statement on “We are deeply concerned by these reports,” the Post asserted.
An investigation that was started immediately is said to have already delivered results: “UV-A lamps installed in a corner of the event were probably the cause of the skin and eye problems reported by participants,” explains the statement. It is not yet known why such lamps were used.
In fact, the suspicion of UV radiation had already been expressed before. The combination of reddened skin and vision problems indicates excessive UV exposure, observers argued at the beginning of the week. The eye pain and loss of vision were strikingly reminiscent of so-called snow blindness, in which the eyes react to excessively bright sunlight. And the skin irritation is simply sunburn.
While snow blindness usually subsides after a few hours, sunburns caused by UV light are no different from those caused by prolonged exposure to the sun. They also need several days to heal completely and carry the same higher risk of skin cancer. However, festival participants should not have to fear prolonged medical treatment.
Nevertheless, the festival operators explicitly recommend that you seek medical help and seek a medical opinion if you have symptoms. They also ask those affected to contact the festival operator via “We are committed to helping everyone affected get better,” the statement says. However, the company has not yet confirmed whether this will also include financial support.
Sources: Company statement, Ars Technica
