Jimmy and his wife Molly welcomed their second child, a precious baby boy named William John Kimmel, on Friday, April 21, 2017 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. He appeared to be a normal healthy baby, until about 3 hours after he was born a very attentive nurse heard a murmur as she was doing assessments. Murmurs are common in newborns, but she also noticed he "was a bit purple". Another nurse in NICU checked him too and notified the doctor. Jimmy was terrified as the number of doctors, nurses, and equipment filled the room. A pediatric cardiology surgeon was called in. An echocardiogram revealed that baby Billy had a birth defect called Tetrology of Fallot with pulmonary atresia and would require surgery. Billy and Jimmy traveled by ambulance to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles to undergo a 3-hour surgery to open his heart valve. Although the surgery was a success, he will require another surgery in about 6 months to close the hole in his heart.
Jimmy is so thankful to the astute nurse who first noticed something was wrong and jumped into action. He thanked her by name as well as the rest of the team at the two hospitals.
This is such a good reminder as we go into Nurses Week that nurses are so important. Many times they are the first line of defense for the safety of patients. Never underestimate your value as a nurse.
In this video, Jimmy is very emotional as he shares this scary story of what happened to little Billy.
