Jimmy Kimmel Praises ’Toughest (And Funniest)’ Son Following Third Open-Heart Surgery

“We went into this experience with a lot of optimism and nearly as much fear and came out with a new valve inside a happy, healthy kid," said the late-night host.

Jimmy Kimmel revealed on Instagram on Monday that his 7-year-old son Billy had successfully undergone a third — and what the late-night host said will hopefully be his final — open-heart surgery.

“We went into this experience with a lot of optimism and nearly as much fear and came out with a new valve inside a happy, healthy kid,” Kimmel captioned a photo of Billy in his hospital bed.

“Thank you to my wife Molly [McNearney] for being stronger than is reasonable for any Mom to be and Billy, you are the toughest (and funniest) 7 year-old we know,” he added.

Kimmel also expressed his gratitude to the medical team at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. See the full post here:

Billy was born in 2017 with a rare heart condition known as etralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia. He underwent emergency open-heart surgery at just three days old and then had another major operation at eight months old.