Jimmy Kimmel arranged a touching surprise for an emergency and trauma nurse who’s been treating COVID-19 patients in the Bronx on Monday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
Nurse TJ Riley of Jacobi Medical Center knew he was going to meet Kimmel, but he didn’t know he’d be meeting one of his favorite musicians of all time — Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Nirvana fame.
“Oh s–t! Dave!” Riley said as his eyes lit up with glee. “I’m a huge, huge fan.”
Grohl serenaded Riley with a special acoustic performance of the Foo Fighters hit “Everlong.” Then he thanked Riley for all the work he’s done.
“Really, TJ, thank you so much for everything you’ve done for so many people, it’s much appreciated. And Jimmy, thanks for honoring brilliant people for doing the right thing,” Grohl said.
Riley was one of the first nurses at Jacobi Medical Center to catch COVID-19. He said that as of now, 60% of his coworkers have gotten the virus. He described his own coronavirus symptoms as consisting of a fever for 12 days and a lot of nausea. After he caught the virus, his husband and parents followed suit. All have since made a full recovery.
Riley also added that “on a usual day” before the coronavirus outbreak, he and his coworkers may see “a gunshot wound, a stab wound, a machete wound, all types of things,” but now that the hospital has transitioned to treated mostly COVID-19 patients and the city is on lockdown, “the traumas have gone down a lot.”
Check out the video above.