Jimmy Kimmel has shared an encouraging update on his son Billy’s health, two months after the 7-year-old underwent his third open-heart surgery.
“Billy’s doing great,” Kimmel, 56, told in an interview published on Monday, July 8. “He had open-heart surgery; you know he’s got the scars and everything, but he’s just mentally right back where he was, which is crazy.”
Kimmel mentioned that he and his wife, Molly McNearney, will need to be “careful” with Billy “for a couple of months,” but the young boy is “doing really well.”
The late-night host expressed amazement at the resilience of children facing serious health challenges.
“They’re made of rubber,” Kimmel said. “Everybody says that kids are so resilient, and the doctors actually explained it to me, which I don’t know why it never occurred to me before because they’re still growing.”
Kimmel had announced in May that Billy underwent his third open-heart surgery over Memorial Day weekend.
“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,” the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host wrote on Instagram at the time.
He also expressed gratitude to the staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for their “immeasurable kindness and expertise” throughout the process.
“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 continued.
“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, thank you to my wife for being stronger than is reasonable for any Mom to be, and Billy, you are the toughest (and funniest) 7-year-old we know.”
Shortly after Billy’s birth in 2017, Kimmel revealed that his youngest child was born with a rare congenital heart defect and underwent his first open-heart surgery just three days later.
Billy was diagnosed with “tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary atresia,” a condition in which his pulmonary valve was blocked and there was a hole in his heart.
In May, Kimmel expressed hope that this third surgery would be the last and encouraged followers to support children’s hospitals.
“There are so many parents and children who aren’t fortunate enough to go home after five days,” he wrote on Instagram.
“Please share your love, hearts, and prayers with them and if it moves you, support @ChildrensLA … or a great children’s hospital near you (@CMNHospitals). Nothing matters more than taking care of each other.”
Kimmel and McNearney also have a 9-year-old daughter, Jane. Kimmel has two older children, daughter Katie, 32, and son Kevin, 30, from his previous marriage to Gina Maddy.
