“I have a story to tell about something that happened to our family last week.”

With those words, Jimmy Kimmel opened his show. Using a combination of vulnerability and humour, he told us about the last two weeks in the Kimmel household, starting with the birth of his son: William “Billy” Kimmel. A few hours after the birth, a nurse noticed that the baby had a faint heart murmur, and was slightly blue. The baby was taken to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where doctors performed an operation to repair his heart (the first of several such surgeries Billy will need over his life). Thankfully, the surgery was a success, and Billy is now at home with his family, where both mother and baby are recovering.

Kimmel used this moment to express his gratitude for the healthcare workers who helped him and his family, thanking the nurse who first noticed the issue multiple times by name (Nanush Shakernia – “if it was a girl, we would have named her Nanush, we really would have.”), as well as the physicians, nurses, and healthcare professionals involved in his care.

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