If you thought you were having a tough Monday, remember that Jimmy Kimmel was getting it the worst. What should have been a weekend with the family, turned into an emergency nightmare. The late night talk show host opened up a great deal about his son’s surgery and also pleaded with President Donald Trump on half of every parent and supporter out there.
During the opening monologue of Jimmy Kimmel Live! the star, broke down and was visibly shaken over the his harrowing experience. Before he could start his story, he did give audiences a ray of hope by saying, “It does have a happy ending.”
Jimmy’s new born son, Billy, was born on April 21. Though everything seemed fine with him, a nurse noticed that he was turning purple and that his heart had a murmur. After frantic tests and a race against time, little Billy was diagnosed with tetralogy of fallout and pulmonary atresia. This means that there was a hole in the heart wall and that his pulmonary valve was blocked.
Imagine the devastation of his parents when they heard about the news. But because Jimmy Kimmel could afford the expensive and risky surgery, William “Billy” John Kimmel survived and is currently thriving under intensive care. It really made the host count his blessings and being able to get through this time of testing and suffering. Billy will have to go for another surgery in a few months and one more when he’s in his early teens, but other than that, he should have a healthful life ahead of him.
Being a parent who faced this family dilemma, led Jimmy Kimmel to begin thinking about other such parents who cannot afford the life-saving surgery for their children. As part of his monologue, he nearly begged the President to think twice about repealing Obamacare for the sake of families. He said, “You know, before 2014 [Obamacare], if you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you wouldn’t be able to get health insurance because you had a pre-existing condition.”
He added: “If your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make. I think that’s something whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right?”
