Jimmy Kimmel Thanks Doctors Who ‘Saved’ Son Billy’s Life in Emotional Post For Little One’s 2nd Birthday

A reason to celebrate! Jimmy Kimmel took to Instagram on Sunday, April 21, to commemorate his son, Billy Kimmel, turning 2 years old. The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host honored the milestone with a sweet message for the growing youngster alongside an adorable pic of him.

“Happy 2nd birthday to our little #Easter buddy Billy,” the 51-year-old captioned a super cute snap of the little guy, who showed off a beaming smile while wearing a striped sweater and holding a carrot. “We are grateful always to the nurses and doctors at @CedarsSinai & @ChildrensLA who saved his life and all of you who prayed and sent positive thoughts our way.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwhymcUlADf/

Celebrating Billy’s 2nd birthday is a huge occasion for the Kimmel family. Just two years ago, Jimmy and wife Molly McNearney were unsure of their child’s fate after he was born with congenital heart defects. The TV personality — who is also the dad to daughter Jane, 4, with Molly — first opened up about Billy’s health issues in an emotional, 13-minute monologue on his talk show in May 2017.

“A little over a week ago, on Friday, April 21st, my wife gave birth to a baby boy. His name is William John Kimmel,” he began explaining to the audience while holding back tears. “We call him Billy. He was an easy delivery — only six pushes out. He appeared to be a normal, healthy baby until about three hours after he was born.”

The Everything Is Mama author’s elaborated that their son’s doctor, Dr. Vaughn Starnes, completed a successful operation after he “went in there with a scalpel and did some kind of magic that I couldn’t even begin to explain,” Jimmy said. Since the terrifying situation, which Jimmy referred to as “the longest three hours of my life,” little Billy has been doing really great.

The late-night host — who is also dad to son Kevin, 25, and daughter, Katie, 28, from his marriage with Gina Kimmel — even dished how he’s going to explain his son’s scars to him in the future. “We’re going to tell him he was attacked by a monster,” Jimmy joked to Us Weekly at a gala benefiting the Children’s Hospital of L.A. in November 2018.

We’re so relieved to hear that Billy is living a happy and healthy life!