Like his TV peers, Jimmy Kimmel has been hosting at-home editions of his show since the coronavirus pandemic forced late-night programs out of their usual studios. This had led to changes in formats for these shows, and while in quarantine, Jimmy Kimmel Live! has introduced a new segment where they name a “healthcare hero” of the week.
On yesterday’s episode, Kimmel spoke with emergency and trauma nurse TJ Riley, from Jacobi Medical Center in The Bronx, New York. It turns out Riley is a big Foo Fighters fan, so Kimmel got Dave Grohl to join his video chat with Riley, which absolutely made the nurse’s day.
Grohl dedicated an acoustic performance of “Everlong” to Riley, and said after the performance, “TJ, thank you so much for everything that you’d done for so many people. It’s much appreciated. And Jimmy, thanks so much for honoring such brilliant people for doing the right thing.”
Before Grohl joined the call, Riley spoke about the situation at his hospital, saying most of the staff is now focused on coronavirus-related medical care. Riley himself contracted the virus, but fortunately came out the other side of it alright after dealing with symptoms for 12 days. He estimated that about 60 percent of his co-workers also contracted the virus. Oh, and Kimmel also teamed up with Life Is Good to give Riley $10,000 and to give gift packages to the other nurses in his department.
Watch Grohl perform “Everlong” above.