Jimmy Kimmel left Twitter in tears this morning as everyone caught up on the late-night show host’s Monday night monologue.
Kimmel tearfully recounted the harrowing story of his newborn son — William “Billy” John Kimmel, born April 21 — who was a healthy baby up until nearly three hours after his birth.
A nurse heard a murmur in his heart, which Kimmel noted is common for newborns. What wasn’t common? His son was purple.
A slew of health care provider visits and tests later, it turned out his son was born with a heart disease called Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia (aka “a hole in the wall between the left and right sides of his heart,” Kimmel says). In the U.S., approximately 1 out of every 2,518 babies is born with Tetralogy of Fallot.
A surgeon at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles was able to operate on Kimmel’s infant to open a valve, though William will need another surgery in several months in order “to close those holes,” and another non-invasive surgery when he hits his early teens. He was able to go home six days after surgery.
“Poor kid. Not only did he get a bad heart, he got my face,” Kimmel quipped.
Kimmel proceeded to thank health care professionals at both Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, in addition to his wife, family, friends, ABC and his co-workers.
He also gave a shout-out to Congress. Its recently agreed-upon spending bill gave $2 billion in funding to the National Institutes of Health.
But he didn’t stop there. He also made a case to not let Congress’ partisan debates “divide us on something every decent person wants.”
“If your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make,” he said.
A new version of last month’s failed American Health Care Act could arrive on the House floor this week, The New York Times reports. The new bill would inhibit protections for those with pre-existing conditions, like Kimmel’s young son, which Obamacare had put in place.
“You know, before 2014, if you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you’d never be able to get health insurance because you had a pre-existing condition,” he also said.
Still, for all the lives Obamacare, aka the Affordable Care Act, has been touted with saving, the lauded health care plan has still left many unable to afford insurance.
Kimmel’s story prompted many tweets on the subject, though not all were positive.
Watch this moving Jimmy Kimmel monologue about the birth of his son. https://t.co/5zmcT7l74X Thankful for the goodness of our caregivers.
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond)
Jimmy Kimmel politicized his ill child to push Left agenda & to denigrate POTUS. It was sickening. He is a much worse person than I thought.
— Philip Schuyler (@FiveRights)
Jimmy Kimmel can afford to pay the higher health insurance rates under Obamacare unlike the middle class. Out of touch rich liberal.
— The Daily POTUS (@redalertnow)
at a time when the health care debate feels never-ending, this, from @jimmykimmel, is so genuinely moving https://t.co/2dhzeNwuTi
— Stephanie M. Lee (@stephaniemlee)
Thanks Jimmy Kimmel for talking about pre- existing conditions!! We are Americans and we deserve the best healthcare.
— I am Joice Carter (@sugarless1050)
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Jimmy Kimmel Opens Up About Son’s Heart Disease originally appeared on usnews.com
