Jimmy Kimmel Opened Monday's Show in Tears With a Story About His Baby's Open Heart Surgery

By Bobby Finger  |  May 2, 2017 | 1:20pm
CelebritiesDirt Bag

In an uncharacteristically emotional opening to his late-night talk show Monday evening, Jimmy Kimmel shared a story about his son William’s very recent battle with heart disease and invasive surgery. By “very recent” I mean this all happened in the past two weeks—when the child was just days old.

The video—which is #2 on YouTube’s “Trending” page right now—is a doozy, and it was hard for me to watch Kimmel tearfully share the story of William’s open heart surgery without shedding a few tears myself. But it has a happy ending! Dr. Vaughn A. Starnes (one of the best cardiologists in the country) at LA’s Children’s Hospital performed the surgery just days after William’s birth, and temporarily fixed the problem that could have killed him. (He’ll need another surgery in a few months, then a final one when in his teens.)

“This man has saved thousands of lives and turned so much sorrow into happiness,” Kimmel said of Dr. Starnes. “I’ll never be able to thank him,” adding (to laughs) “so I won’t even try.”

But after thanking his family for their love and support, “that son of a bitch Matt Damon” for sending flowers, and his wife Molly (“I couldn’t ask for a better partner”), Kimmel turned his attention to the President Trump’s recent attempts at dismantling the Affordable Care Act. Spoiler: Kimmel doesn’t think it’s the right thing to do.

“If your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make…We all agree on that, right?”

After some thunderous applause, Kimmel concluded his 13-minute monologue with a final comment.

“I saw a lot of families there,” he said through more tears. “And no parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child’s life. Not here. Anyway. Thank you for listening, I promise I won’t cry for the rest of the show.”

[YouTube]

Are you still crying? Look at this and have a laugh instead.

[Twitter]