Kimberly Viator is fixing broken hearts one picture at a time.

The 49-year-old photographer moved to the Youngsville area from Texas just a month and a half ago, but already she has been thrust into the Louisiana spotlight in a way she never expected.

It started with a simple Facebook post. Viator sent a message to flood victims offering help to those who lost pictures and photo albums in the water.

She offered to help repair flood-damaged photos free of charge.

In one day, her post was shared more than 69,000 times. To date, it has racked up more than 3 million views.

“My phone rings all day,” Viator said. “People have been contacting me. It’s overwhelming the amount of people that my post reached and continues to keep reaching.”

More than 1,000 people have contacted Viator for help, and the number is growing. So far, she ‘s taken in several thousand photos. So many, she said, she does not know how she will be able to tackle them all alone.

Each one has a heartbreaking story. There was the lady who lost a  baby in the hospital she never got to see, the child who lost a parent, and a picture was all he had.

“I told them I would help them,” she said. ” I feel obligated. I feel bad if I can’t help them.”

The process Viator uses to restore the pictures is time-consuming. She must first get the photos or albums dry if they are wet.

If people can’t get their pictures to her right away, she tells them to put them in the freezer to “buy time” and prevent mold from growing. Once they thaw, the items are easier to separate and prepare for drying.

When the pictures are dry, Viator goes about the painstaking task of scanning each one into a computer file and creating a digital image.

She then goes to work using a Photoshop program to make the image as similar to the original as possible. She said in most cases, the former physical picture cannot be saved.