"Billy turns 7 today and is doing great": Jimmy Kimmel expresses gratitude for medical professionals on son's birthday

In a recent post on Instagram, Jimmy Kimmel reflected on his son William Billy John’s open heart surgery and stated how grateful he is that Billy is celebrating his 7th birthday. In the post made on Monday, April 22, 2024, Jimmy Kimmel thanked the doctors of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for saving Billy’s life, as he wrote:

“Billy turns 7 today and is doing great thanks to the doctors, nurses, therapists and staff at Children's LA & Cedars Sinai.”

He then continued by requesting his followers to donate $7, as he stated that it was his son’s wish to collect the amount on his 7th birthday so that he could raise $100 to help other sick kids. He stated:

Kimmel posted a birthday wish for his son, Billy, thanking the doctors who performed heart surgery on him. (Image via @JimmyKimmel/ Instagram)

On the same day, Jimmy Kimmel posted another picture of his son, Billy, stating how he is extremely “overwhelmed” by the donations received by his friends and followers. He stated in the post:

“This boy is seven years old because of you. Molly and I are overwhelmed by your generous donations to Children's LA and kind messages. Thank you for all the love. We wish you and your families good health and great friends.”

As per the donation page, Jimmy Kimmel’s son managed to collect almost $50,000 as of this writing, while Billy’s actual goal was to collect only $100.

As per Entertainment Weekly, Bill was born with a congenital heart defect, called Tetralogy of Fallot with VSD, and had to undergo open heart surgery just three days after he was born.

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Jimmy Kimmel opened up on his son’s rare disease in a monologue on his show in 2017

Jimmy Kimmel, the host of the popular show Jimmy Kimmel Live, first opened up about his son’s rare disease in the opening monologue of his show, where he talked about how his newborn son, William, was born with “tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary atresia.”

He stated that the disease blocks the pulmonary valve of the heart. Furthermore, the doctors also stated that there was a hole in Billy’s heart.

Jimmy Kimmel narrated the entire incident in 2017 during the show and stated that his newborn started to turn purple, and just then, the doctors noticed that he had a heart murmur. He said:

“Dr. Vaughn Starnes opened his chest and fixed one of the two defects in his heart. He went in there with a scalpel and did some kind of magic that I couldn’t even begin to explain. He opened the valve, and the operation was a success. It was the longest three hours of my life.”

He also said:

"The room started to fill up. More doctors, nurses, and equipment started coming in and they determined that he wasn’t getting enough oxygen into his blood. It’s a terrifying thing."

However, the surgery turned out to be a success, as Kimmel then spoke to US Weekly in September 2019, when Billy was two years old. At the time, Kimmel informed the publication that his son was “doing great” after the surgery. He stated:

“He thinks he’s Spider-Man now, so we’re safe from crime. He wears the costume all the time. He’s shooting webs all over the house. He goes to preschool as his secret identity and then turns into Spider-Man when he comes home.”

While Kimmel’s son is doing perfectly fine after the health scare seven years back, the National Institute of Health states that the disease is extremely rare as it occurs in about five kids for every 10,000 live births.