What happened to iShowSpeed? Youtube streamer's eye injury led to him being in hospital - how he is now?

Fans of a popular Youtuber known as iShowSpeed have been asking when he will return to creating videos as he has now returned home after receiving hospital treatment for an eye injury. The teen revealed via his channel that he was in hospital last week and said it felt like “somebody was stabbing [his] eye with a knife”.

Darren Watkins Junior, who is better known to his fans as iShowSpeed, or just Speed for short, took to his Youtube account on Sunday 30 July to share with his millions of subscribers that he was being taken to hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Despite being in hospital care in the days that followed, he managed to reach a milestone from his bed on Thursday (3 August) by hitting 19 million subscribers. Now, he has flown back home to the United States after being given treatment.

So, just who is iShowSpeed, what caused him to be hospitalised and how is he now? Here’s what you need to know.

Who is iShowSpeed?

iShowSpeed, or Speed, is a popular American Youtuber. His real name is Darren Watkins Junior and he’s also a streamer, singer, rapper, and internet personality. He is 18-years-old and was born on 21 January 2005, in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. He first created his Youtube channel, iShowSpeed, back in March 2016 when he was just 11.

He is best known for producing live stream videos, in which he plays video games including Roblox, Fortnite, and FIFA.  He became well known on the platform between May and June 2021 when he managed to gain almost a million followers. His videos have now gained 1,625,839,505 views in total.

Not all of his fame has been for positive reasons, however. Later in 2021, he went viral on TikTok, after his fans shared videos of his aggressive behaviour when streaming live. He also got banned from Twitch after harassing fellow Twitch streamer Ash Kash and he was allegedly banned for sexual coercion or intimidation.

Then, in July 2022, iShowSpeed set fire to a Pikachu toy and almost burned down his bedroom and a month later he was arrested by police while he was on a live video. He’s now known for his controversial streams and troubles with the law.

Why was iShowSpeed hospitalised?

It hasn’t yet been revealed exactly what caused iShowSpeed to become ill and need hospital treatment. He first alerted his fans to his condition in a one minute video he posted on his Youtube channel on Sunday 30 July. 

He had a bandage around his head, both of his eyes were closed and one eye appeared swollen. He said: “Hello guys, quick update, I don’t know what I have right now but I’m about to go to surgery.” He added: “My eye’s puffing up, it feels like somebody is stabbing my eye with a knife” and said he had a headache in a concentrated area in his head. 

The same video was posted to his Twitter page with the caption “Speed is about to undergo surgery due to his eyes swelling from his cluster headache”.

In an update posted to his Youtube channel on Monday 31 July iShowSpeed was seen sitting up in a hospital bed. He said he had had an MRI scan earlier in the day and that he had a “huge ache” around the area of his swollen eye and part of his head, but also that parts of the same area on his face and head were numb.

He said “it hurts so bad” and then became emotional when he asked his fans to pray for him and added “I hate this, I’ve never experienced anything like this”. He admitted that he just wanted to go home to stream for his fans and play video games, but said that he was trying to keep good spirits and that his mum and dad had flown to Tokyo to be with him. 

Later on the same day, another video was posted to his Twitter account showing iShowSpeed sat up in his hospital bed, singing along to a song he was playing on his phone. The caption read: “Speed underwent an MRI and it appears he won’t be needing surgery, there is inflammation and bacteria but only on his eyelid not the eye itself which is a huge relief.”

How is iShowSpeed now?

The latest update from iShowSpeed’s Twitter account reveals that he has flown home to the United States today (Wednesday 9 August). The post said that he had "touched down safely" and included a photo which showed him posing and smiling with a fan. His eye no longer appeared to be swollen.

iShowSpeed is also expected to return to uploading his usual content to his social media pages in the coming days, but another Twitter post warned fans now to "expect any streams right away as Speed still needs to rest up".