Jimmy Kimmel Shares Emotional Update as Son Billy, 7, Undergoes Third Open-Heart Surgery
The lead surgeon who performed all three heart surgeries on jimmy kimmel’s son Billy at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shared new details about the 7-year-old boy’s heart condition, operations and recovery.
In an interview with Good Morning America Dr. Vaughn A. Starnes told ABC News’ Matt Gutman that Kimmel and his wife Molly McNearney did not know about their son’s heart defect until shortly after he was born. Kimmel gave his permission to Starnes to do the interview with “GMA.”
“It caught them by surprise,” Starnes explained. “They thought Billy was going to be perfectly normal and was until two or three hours after delivery. That’s when the nurse noted that the child was somewhat blue and sounded the alarms.”
Jimmy kimmel ‘s son Billy underwent a third open-heart surgery, the comedian revealed in a post on Instagram Monday.
“This weekend, our boy Billy had his third (of three, we hope) open heart surgery,” the late night talk show host wrote. “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.”
Kimmel wrote a lengthy appreciation for his son’s medical team at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, adding that the hospital helps families “families regardless of their ability to pay” thanks to the Affordable Care Act and company donations.
He continued, “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.”
“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 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,” the father of four wrote. “There are so many parents and children who aren’t fortunate enough to go home after five days.”
He added that the experience has “got to be the most scary, terrifying thing that a parent goes through.”
Billy Kimmel has a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart condition where a combination of four heart defects affects normal blood flow through the heart, causing oxygen-poor blood to be pumped out to the body. It typically requires surgical intervention in infancy or early childhood to improve blood flow and oxygen levels.
Starnes noted that Billy “had a very severe form” of the condition.
“He had no connection between the right ventricle,” he said.
Last month, Kimmel provided a health update on Billy via Instagram after his son’s third open heart surgery
In the post, he detailed his son’s operation and thanked the medical team for their work.
The latest procedure was required to insert a valve that could help Billy live normally and it still came with a risk.
Discussing the mood of Jimmy Kimmel and his family going into the surgery over the Memorial Day weekend, Starnes shared that “Jimmy was very emotional. And Molly [McNearney] was obviously emotional, but more in control of her emotions.”
Nevertheless, Starnes said the surgery was an instant success.
When Billy returned home from the hospital last week, Kimmel shared in a video that his wife recorded in the kitchen holding a broom and attempting to encourage a hawk that had flown inside their house to fly back out.
The bird of prey fumbled in the corner of the glass windows as Kimmel attempted to usher it toward an open window before the hawk flew across the kitchen, at which point Billy could be seen moving quickly to go upstairs before the bird eventually flew out the sliding glass door.
Kimmel first revealed in 2017 during an emotional Minogue for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” that Billy had to have his first open-heart surgery just three days after he was born.
His son was born with a congenital heart condition called tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia, the comedian told the audience at the time. “Basically, the pulmonary valve was completely blocked and he has a hole in the wall between the left and right sides of his heart,” he explained.
Through tears, Kimmel still managed to joke, “Poor kid. Not only did he get a bad heart, he got my face.”
The rare defect causes four different heart problems, according to Mayor Clinic. The cause is typically unknown.
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