Jimmy Kimmel Says His ‘Miracle’ Son Billy ‘Taught Me to Appreciate My Life’ After Health Scare

He calls it “the most delicious charity event of all.” Since 2010, Jimmy Kimmel has supported the L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade Stand cookout to support the fight against childhood cancer. “Besides it being a lot of fun and having these great chefs gathered in once place,” Jimmy told Closer at the October 5 event, which he attended with his wife, Molly McNearney, and kids, Jane, 10, and Billy, 7, “they’re doing a special thing — they’re actually making real progress and really helping families and kids who have cancer. We’ve been in a difficult position ourselves with our son, and there’s nothing more important.”

Billy was born with a congenital heart defect. In May, the late-night host reported that his “tough” son had his third and hopefully last open-heart surgery, to get a new heart valve, and Jimmy, 56, thanked the “miracle workers” at Children’s Hospital L.A. “He’s doing really well — look at him! He’s out of control!” Jimmy told Closer, adding that his kids are “into basketball, Olivia Rodrigo, Mr. Beast and all that stuff.” Aside from his heart issue, Billy is a normal kid, adds a source: “He’s Jimmy’s miracle son.”

Inside Jimmy Kimmel’s Son Billy’s Health Scare

It’s been seven years since the comedian tearfully revealed the “terrifying” days that followed Billy’s birth. When the boy (born April 21, 2017) was just hours old, “a very attentive nurse heard a murmur in his heart and also noticed he was a bit purple,” he recalled. The newborn was rushed to Children’s Hospital L.A., where Dr. Vaughn Starnes “did some kind of magic,” Jimmy added, “and the operation was a success.”

Billy’s diagnosis was a severe form of tetralogy of Fallot, which affects blood flow through the heart. “It caught them by surprise. They thought Billy was going to be perfectly normal,” Starnes told Good Morning America, adding that Jimmy, in particular, “was very emotional.”

Jimmy knows how lucky they are. “Walking around this hospital, meeting parents at their most vulnerable, children in pain … is a humbling experience,” Jimmy, who also shares two adult children with his first wife, wrote on Instagram in May, urging people to support their local children’s hospitals. “There are so many parents and children who aren’t fortunate enough to go home after five days.”

For his birthday this year, Billy also asked for donations to the hospital that saved his life. And his family will never stop being grateful for having a healthy, happy little boy, Jimmy told Closer: “He’s taught me to appreciate my life!”