Jimmy Kimmel's 7-year-old son, William "Billy" John is "doing great" after undergoing his third open heart surgery in May.
The late night show host, 56, shared the health update during an interview with Entertainment Tonight, published Monday.
"Billy's doing great. He had open-heart surgery; you know he's got the scars and everything, but he's just mentally right back where he was which is crazy," the elder Kimmel said.
His son was born with a congenital heart disease in 2017 and had emergency open-heart surgery when he was 3 days old, with a second surgery scheduled for several months later.
"Physically, you know, we're going to have to be careful with him for a couple of months, but he's doing really well," he continued, noting that children had such resilience.
"They're made of rubber, you know, everybody says that kids are so resilient. and the doctors actually explained it to me, which I don't know why it never occurred to me before because they're still growing," he said.
In May, Jimmy Kimmel revealed on Instagram that his son had open heart surgery.
"This weekend, our boy Billy had his third [of three, we hope] open heart surgery," he wrote. "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."
The host praised Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where his son Billy was treated.
"Walking around this hospital, meeting parents at their most vulnerable, children in pain, and the miracle workers who do everything in their considerable power to save them is a humbling experience," he wrote, before going on to thank "loving strangers who took time to pray for and send positive energy to our baby" as well as his family.
"Thank you to my wife Molly 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. "There are so many parents and children who aren't fortunate enough to go home after five days."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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