Jimmy Kimmel’s 7-year-old son, Billy, has undergone an open-heart surgery for the third time.
During the show on Memorial Day, the talk show host stated that his kid needed a new valve, and the medical team at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles had done a successful surgery to replace it.
Kimmel expressed his relief and gratitude in an Instagram post, sharing a photo of Billy smiling in his hospital bed. “We went into this experience with a lot of optimism and nearly as much fear and came out with a new valve inside a happy, healthy kid,” he wrote.
“Walking around this hospital, meeting parents at their most vulnerable, children in pain and the miracle workers who do everything in their considerable power to save them is a humbling experience.”
Kimmel extended his thanks “to those loving strangers who took time to pray for and send positive energy to our baby, thanks to our family and friends for rallying around us to an almost-ridiculous extent.”
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The 56-year-old comedian also praised his wife, Molly McNearney, for her strength, saying, “Thank you to my wife Molly for being stronger than is reasonable for any Mom to be, and Billy, you are the toughest (and funniest) 7-year-old we know.”
“Nothing matters more than taking care of each other. With love and gratitude, Jimmy,” the late-night host concluded his post.
Kimmel’s son’s health journey has been a difficult one since birth
In May 2017, Kimmel revealed on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ that Billy was born with a treatable heart condition and had to undergo surgery immediately after birth. Kimmel recalled, “The operation was a success. It was the longest three hours of my life — but it was a success.”
The second surgery followed in December 2017, and now, this third surgery is expected to be the final one Billy will need.
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The couple also share a 9-year-old daughter named Jane.
Kimmel has two older children from his previous marriage to Gina Maddy: Katie, aged thirty-two years, and a son, Kevin, aged thirty years.
