Jimmy Kimmel Reflects on 3-Year-Old Son Billy's Heart Surgeries in Message on Health Care
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For Jimmy Kimmel, the topic of health care is a personal one.
While discussing coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the late-night host shared a video his wife, Molly McNearney, created about their 3-year-old son Billy's journey.
"Three years ago, I delivered a baby boy, Billy," McNearney wrote in a message. "Three hours later, the brilliant nurse noticed something was wrong. One hour later, our baby boy was in the NICU. Billy was born with Tetralogy of Fallot/VSD (congenital heart defects)."
The proud parent recalled how the little one underwent his first of three heart surgeries at Children's Hospital Los Angeles when he was just 3 days old and then proceeded to have more than 60 doctors' appointments in three years.
"Billy was born with a preexisting condition," she wrote before sharing a series of photos of Billy's several hospital visits over the years. "This is what it looks like to have a preexisting condition."
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She also made it clear that Billy is not alone, noting that millions of Americans have preexisting conditions that range "from diseases like Billy's to cancer, asthma and diabetes."
With the debate over the Affordable Care Act, which bans insurers from using preexisting conditions to deny health care coverage, and the presidential election top of mind, McNearney urged viewers to vote. She also gave fans an update on Billy today and showed footage of him smiling, dancing and playing with his 6-year-old sister Jane. She then told viewers she and Kimmel "are raising him to fight for less fortunate kids."
"Americans take care of one another," she wrote. "Vote with your heart."
This wasn't the first time Kimmel—who also has two adult children, Kevin and Katie, from a previous relationship—had brought up the subject of Billy's health. He first discussed the topic shortly after Billy's birth in 2017 and has continued to keep fans updated.
Watch the video to see the clip.
