Children’s Hospital Los Angeles sees Spike in Donations after Jimmy Kimmel Shared his Son’s Story
During Jimmy Kimmel’s show on Monday evening, he shared the emotional story of his son’s birth and subsequent diagnosis with a congenital heart defect. He had surgery at just three days old, and while he’ll still have procedures in his future, he’s doing very well now.
Jimmy shared, during his speech, gratitude for the hospital and also mentioned that while he hopes no one watching ever had to go there…however…if it happened, there was no place in the world better to be. He mentioned that there were kids from so many financial backgrounds all being treated well.
“I hope you never have to go there, but if you do, you’ll see so many kids from so many financial backgrounds, being cared for so well and with so much compassion.”
CEO and hospital president Paul Viviano said Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been receiving an incredibly large amount of donations since Kimmel’s heartfelt speech in Monday’s episode. In addition to these donations and shouts of support and praise, the hospital says they’ve also received calls of gratitude from old patients. We can only imagine that they’re feeling wonderful right now, and they deserve it.
“We have had several hundred calls to the hospital, our heart institute, from former patients thanking us for care and from donors inspired by Jimmy’s message. Our caregivers — the nurses and physicians that Jimmy talked about, that team — of course, it’s very reaffirming for them. It’s not every day when someone on national television talks about a wonderful outcome under some challenging circumstances.”
You can visit the website for the hospital here. You will see patient stories, education, research, ways to help, and ways you can get involved to help too. There are a lot of stories out there laced with sadness and with disdain lately, it’s nice to see one that’s positive and inspiring.
‘…but I knew him’
