Jimmy Fallon claims to have discovered the meaning of life while he lay in a hospital bed following surgery to repair a “ring avulsion.”
The “Tonight Show” host returned Monday from a scheduled two-week hiatus that was forced to begin a day earlier after Fallon nearly ripped his finger off in a “bit of a mishap.”
"I tripped and fell in my kitchen on a braided rug that my wife loves, and I can't wait to burn it to the ground," Fallon joked. “I caught my fall and my finger went sideways.”
Fallon said he originally thought he broke his finger. However, he quickly learned from doctors that his “cheap horror movie” finger had suffered a ring avulsion, and would require emergency micro-surgery.
“Basically, my ring got caught on the countertop when I was going down, and it got stuck there and pulled my finger off,” the host explained. "Apparently the odds aren't great with these things. Usually they just cut your finger off."
Hospital officials sent Fallon to New York City’s Bellevue Hospital where a bow-tie-wearing, cowboy-boots-rocking doctor saved the day. The surgery took roughly six hours, and included a procedure that involved removing a vein from the comedian's foot and putting it into his injured finger.
"It's just a crazy story," Fallon said.
Doctors said he wouldn’t get feeling back on his finger for eight weeks. He was in the ICU for 10 days.
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“I started losing it halfway through,” Fallon admitted. “I read books on the meaning of life. I know the meaning of life if anyone wants to know. We’ll have a drink later and I’ll tell you.”
In a heartfelt moment, the host said that he realized the meaning of his life was to be on TV and make people who are suffering laugh.
“I must say, the fall was funny,” Fallon confessed. “I am a comedian, so I have to fall funny. If it was me, watching me, I would laugh.”
Fallon also took the opportunity to thank the nurses and doctors at Bellevue Hosptial, his wife and fans.
"I am so happy to be back after our two week break," he said to open the show. "In fact, I was so excited I went around the office giving everyone a high-four."