By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Sometimes, from personal adversity comes inspiration. Such is the case with LaPlace native Jared Broussard.

Five years ago, Broussard and his wife, Rikki, learned that their unborn son was afflicted with a rare congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot.

Their son, Jonathan, would undergo a nearly 10-hour surgery at just three months old to correct what was a life threatening issue.

Jonathan survived surgery, going home with his mother and father after 13 days at Children’s Hospital in Boston, where he was cared for by a specialist. But those 13 days were certainly trying for his mother and father.

“When you’re there and trying to update everyone with phone calls, 15 people all wanting to know what is happening … it can be overwhelming, when you’re trying to deal with everything going on as it is,” Broussard said.

It was that ordeal that led to Broussard creating the website Heart waves.org, an online community for those dealing with the congenital heart defects of infants.

Broussard was introduced to sites like Car ingBridge.org, a site where medical patients — or the close family of those patients — can blog about his or her progress in a Facebook-like setting, only access is limited to close family and friends designated by the patent. It is set up specifically for heart care.

Broussard took on that format for Heartwaves, but made it specialized for those suffering from the same type of affliction as Jonathan.

“In cases like these, so many people have to make plans for surgical intervention. They might have to travel to see a specialist … you want your child being under the care of someone that does five of these a day if you can help it,” said Broussard.

“I want Heartwaves to be a lifeline to families like mine who are going through what we went through. People wonder how they are ever going to get through this … You almost feel alone, like you’re weird or different. There are others going through this, and this site allows these families who are going through it, or have gone through it, to support one another.”

In addition to moral support — those in the Heartwaves community can leave comments or well wishes in response to patient updates — others who have gone through the process before can give insight on what measures were taken in their experience.

“If you’re leaving for Boston, like we were, you might ask someone who’s done the same, ‘Where did you stay?’ he said. “Little things like that can offer at least some relief.”

Aside from the connection between families, the site has more than 40 bloggers that already include a number of well-known surgeons, cardiologists and medical experts — this despite the site just launching in February.

“It ranges from child life specialists, to mothers speaking on grief and loss. It touches on everything relating to congenital heart defects,” Broussard said.

Broussard added that after interacting with the site for a while, people truly seem to form a bond with one another.

“People are eager to see each step of the process. They’re waiting for those updates to see how everything goes, and they comment about it,” said Broussard.

“It’s a sense of community. People are pulling for you, supporting you.”

Another goal Broussard has for the site is for it to help spread awareness of undetected heart defects in people that are present from birth, and the measures that can be taken to prevent a tragic outcome.

“You hear about more and more people, young athletes, who collapse in basketball or soccer games, things that are due to sudden heart failure,” he said. “People will have these defects and live normal lives, never knowing about it until its too late. We want to educate people to increase the chance of detection and intervention.”

Broussard also advocates the presence of a defibrillator on site at schools as a precaution.

“If by chance something happens, it gives that person a fighting chance,” he said. “The time it takes for an ambulance to get to the site can be a crucial period.”