Jimmy Kimmel gives update on five-year-old son Billy's health following multiple heart surgeries
Shola Lee
Featured Image Credit: Kirby Lee / Alamy Stock Photo / @jimmykimmel / Instagram
Jimmy Kimmel issued an update on his five-year-old son's health and the 'scary' heart condition he's had since birth.
The late-night host gave the update about his son, Billy, who was born with a serious heart condition in 2017.
Speaking at the 2022 Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Gala this past Saturday, 8 October, the comedian expressed his thankfulness for the charity, alongside his wife Molly McNearney.
"It is a scary story... but it has a happy ending," Jimmy said back in 2017 as he tearfully explained his son's health issues.
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At first, he and Molly assumed he was fine. However, a nurse noticed a murmur in his heart and also that his skin appeared "a bit purple".
"[The doctors] determined he wasn't getting enough oxygen in his blood, either in his heart or lungs," the host said. "They did an x-ray and his lungs were fine, which meant his heart wasn't. It's a terrifying thing.
"They found that Billy was born with a heart disease."
It was determined that young Billy had a hole on both sides of his heart, so was rushed to Children's Hospital Los Angeles for heart surgery.
Thankfully, the operation was a success, and six days later, Jimmy and Molly were able to take their newborn son home.
Since then, his son has undergone further treatment and is expecting to undergo one more open-heart surgery.
As he explained to those in attendance at Saturday night's gala: "He still needs one open-heart surgery, but he’s doing great."
He went on to say, humour very much intact: "He has no idea what we’re up to [tonight], nor would he care.
"I tried to explain the heart surgery to him because he has a bit of scar down the centre of his chest, and he has almost no interest."
The comedian went on to express how much his family wanted to thank the charity, adding: "Our son, Billy, had two open-heart surgeries here, he was born with two heart defects, and they fixed them up real good, so we’re very grateful."
He added that the charity, which Molly had supported before their son's birth, has now become an important part of their life: "We never imagined that this organisation that we’d supported financially and by hosting events for them would be a place that we needed to go — so that came as a bit of a shock, but it all worked out."
And we're wishing Billy all the best and a speedy recovery for his next surgery.
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