METAIRIE, La. — Life can throw curveballs. However, for one local 3-year-old, he doesn't let those challenges stop him.
After being diagnosed with a particular case of heart failure, Beau Alread is teaching others about the importance of living life to the fullest.
Beau is usually running around, smiling. Watch him play, and you'd never know the challenges he has faced.
"My son is a heart warrior for sure," said his mother, Hillary Alread.
Beau and his twin brother, Owen, were born seven weeks early, which is a tough situation for any new parent. However, at six-days-old, another blow came his mom never expected.
"It felt like getting hit with a ton of bricks, it was scary, it was sad, we didn't know what to do," she said.
Doctors found a hole in Beau's heart. He needed open-heart surgery, but at only three pounds, it would have to wait until Beau was big enough to handle it.
"It was just a lot of information thrown at you all at once," Hillary said.
Five months later, in February 2019, the magic of Carnival revealed itself. Beau had gained enough weight and was miraculously ready for surgery.
"We can't cure it, but we can rearrange circulation so it's optimized in children to live as long as possible," his surgeon, Benjamin Peeler, said
Peeler is the Chief of Adult and Pediatric Congenital Cardiac Surgery at Ochsner. He says the surgery took about two hours and was a success. He also adds patients like Beau remind him how tough little ones can be.
"Heart surgery is a big deal on a baby it's a big deal, but I think we're constantly amazed and parents are amazed at how well babies do," he said.
"He's taught me to enjoy life and see it as something special," Hillary said.
Every Carnival, on the anniversary of his surgery, Beau's parents think back on his battle.
"I just look at that and think you're a tiny little miracle that you're here and I get to enjoy you every day," she said.
A miracle who's taught them to not take life for granted, and a miracle who, they say, never misses a beat.