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Billy Kimmel, a late-night talk show host, told E! News exclusively that his 7-year-old son, Billy, is "in perfect health" almost a year after he and his wife, Molly McNearney, had his third open heart surgery.
On February 22, Jimmy exclaimed, "Billy is about to turn 8," at Keep Memory Alive's Power of Love Gala in Las Vegas. "He's doing fantastic. He is in excellent health.
The 57-year-old stated that it "means a lot" to be recognized at the celebrity-filled event, which is in support of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Nevada, where he was born.
Jimmy, who has a 10-year-old daughter named Jane Kimmel with Molly, as well as children Katie Kimmel, 33, and Kevin Kimmel, 31 with his ex-wife Gina Maddy, felt it was only fitting to donate his love to another cause after experiencing the overwhelming support of the medical community during his son's medical ordeal.
"It's very special when people say, 'Oh, we're praying for your son,'" said Jimmy. "People throw those words around lightly, but when you hear them about yourself, they're very meaningful."
He went on to stress the value of helping others, saying, "It is really helpful to know that you can go to a place where they are on the cutting edge of figuring this stuff out, hopefully curing these terrible brain-related diseases and conditions that that people have." In 2017, the comedian's son was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart defect three hours after his birth, necessitating immediate surgery, which resulted in the newborn's first operation.
"It was the longest three hours of my life," Jimmy recounted during a May 2017 episode of his eponymous talk show. "They didn't do everything. In three or six months, he will need to undergo another open heart procedure.
In December of that year, Billy had his second surgery. His third heart valve replacement procedure was performed in May 2023.
"Walking around this hospital," Jimmy posted to Instagram in 2016, "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."
He concluded, "Thanks to those loving strangers who took time to pray for and send positive energy to our baby."
