The 54-year-old talk show host and his wife, Molly McNearney, were attending the 2022 Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Gala on Saturday. Their son Billy, now 5, was born with a congenital heart defect and had been receiving medical care at the hospital, which he discussed with the press.
He’s doing well. Billy is doing fantastic, but he still needs one open-heart surgery, Kimmel said, adding that Billy is one of the main reasons he and his wife are there to help the foundation.
Kimmel made light of the fact that he is neither particularly tall nor broad. Roughly three feet in height, he is pretty short. He said his son wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about galas or his own surgeries.
Kimmel joked that his guest had no idea what we were doing tonight and that he probably didn’t care. He had a scar down the middle of his chest from heart surgery, and I attempted to explain it to him, but he wasn’t very interested.
Kimmel, 42, and McNearney, 43, persevered through a challenging first year with their son. The latter was born with the congenital cardiac defect tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia and required three heart surgeries (one when he was just three days old).
The late-night presenter explained to the media that his decision to donate to the hospital was deeply personal.
According to Kimmel, his son Billy was born with two cardiac abnormalities. Still, after he underwent two open-heart surgeries at the hospital, the doctors were able to repair the problems successfully.
Even though he’s been working with the nonprofit since before Billy was born, he and his wife admit they never imagined they’d need the charity’s help.