Jimmy Kimmel says his son Billy is doing great after open-heart surgery in May

Jimmy Kimmel's son, Billy Kimmel, was born in 2017 with a rare congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary artesia. The seven-year-old underwent his third open heart surgery in May, according to a post on Instagram by the television host.

Jimmy Kimmel told Entertainment Tonight in an article published on July 9 that his son, whom he shares with his wife Molly McNearney, is "doing great" post-surgery.

"Billy's doing great. 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. Physically, you know we're gonna have to be careful with him for a couple of months, but he's doing really well," he said.

Tetralogy of Fallot as per Nationwide Children's Organization is a congenital heart defect made up of four different heart problems, due to which he had open-heart surgery at just 3 days old. Billy has had three open heart surgeries till now, as per Kimmel's Instagram post in May.

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"They're made of rubber," says Jimmy Kimmel while talking about his son Billy's recovery

While talking about how his 7-year-old son, Billy, is doing after his third open heart surgery in May, Jimmy Kimmel expressed astonishment at how resilient children can be.

"They're made of rubber. 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 and we're not. Ideally, we're not. We're shrinking," he said.

In May, Jimmy Kimmel announced Billy's open-heart surgery in an Instagram post. He praised his son in the post and thanked the Children's Hospital Los Angeles staff.

Billy was born with Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary artesia, for which he continues to receive treatment. At the time of his birth, Kimmel, on his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, encouraged users to support the U.S. healthcare reform.

"I saw a lot of families there, and no parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child's life. It just shouldn't happen. Not here," he had said.

Billy Kimmel underwent his first surgery when he was just three days old and had a second surgery when he was seven months old. After his second surgery, Molly McNearney, his mother, took to X in a plea to parents to be thankful for having healthy children and help children who are not.

"If your children are healthy, be thankful. And do something to help those who children are not."

While speaking to E! News in October 2022, Jimmy described Billy as a "very funny kid." Kimmel also added that his son loves Spiderman, jumping on his head and doing all the things that his parents tell him not to do.