Jimmy Kimmel Talks About Son’s Illness And Current Condition
Jimmy Kimmel has updated fans on the current condition of his 3-month-old son, William “Billy” John. Billy was born on April 21 with a heart defect. In a tearful monologue ten days later, Jimmy shared with viewers of Jimmy Kimmel Live! that his son had been born with a rare and possibly dangerous heart condition called tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia. He recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter and talked about his son while sharing details about the experience, as well as the public response to his emotional account of the situation in April.
On the day of Jimmy’s interview, he shared that Billy had his first visit to the doctor’s office. Considering his cardiac issues, it seems that the visit went well.
“He’s doing great. Young Billy made his first visit to our office today. He’s juggling. He’s translating Flaubert from French into English. He’s really an amazing kid. No — he smiles. That’s pretty much it. He is very interested in ceiling fans. He likes those a lot. I could get him to pay the same amount for Netflix just to watch ceiling fans.”
Kimmel acknowledged, however, that he and his wife live with the knowledge that their baby will have to undergo two open heart surgeries. While it isn’t something they are looking forward to, Jimmy said part of them wishes they would be done soon so they can put it behind them. Billy had open heart surgery soon after his birth before Kimmel’s wife, Molly, had even left the recovery room. Jimmy described it as a surreal experience.
“I felt like I was in an episode of a television show where something terrible was happening. There were a lot of people scrambling around. “
The late-night host on why "it's clear politicians aren't listening" on health care https://t.co/vJXVmQQLbP
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 10, 2017
As a celebrity, Jimmy knew that news of his baby’s issues would likely get out and wanted to address it on his show despite knowing that it would be an emotional experience. He decided that he wanted to turn it into a positive. Since it happened at the same time as healthcare decisions were being made in D.C., he decided to use it as an opportunity to comment on the state of healthcare in the U.S. He shared a little more on that subject in his THR interview.
“I don’t see what the difference between health care and education is. Every kid should have a right to an education. We don’t seem to have a problem with paying for that.”
Jimmy shared that he received responses from several politicians following his May 1 monologue. Among them was Barack Obama, who also tweeted a response. Other politicians he heard from included President Clinton, President George W. Bush, and several people in Congress.
Billy is 3 months old & doing great. Thx for the love & support. Please remind your Congresspeople that every kid deserves the care he got pic.twitter.com/XcvvM6XFJ3
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) July 21, 2017
Ellen DeGeneres has said she would not have President Trump on her show. Would Jimmy Kimmel?
“I absolutely would. I would love to talk to him about this. I would like to see, as a father and a person who prides himself on speaking the truth, what he thinks. If I were his next-door neighbor and I didn’t have health insurance for my child, I find it hard to believe he would ignore that.”
[Featured Image by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]
