Sun Prairie, Wis. – Last October, 43 year-old Marc Merucci was playing hockey at the Sun Prairie Ice Arena – something he loved to do.  But a sudden and deadly heart attack ended his future wedding and life plans in just a few minutes.

On January 21, nearly three months to the day, Merucci’s father and fiancée gathered at the Sun Prairie Ice Arena once again, to ensure if something like this happens to another player, there will be a fighting chance to save their lives.  Thanks to an AED donation by the Sun Prairie EMS and a donated wall mount by St. Mary’s Hospital, there will be that fighting chance.

“AEDs are shown to have a real potential to save someone’s life in times of cardiac arrest,” says Kep Anderson, Director of the Sun Prairie EMS.  “With the large number of people that use the Sun Prairie Ice Arena, it makes sense to have one here and we were happy to be able to make that happen.”

“The statistics show that with broad deployment of AEDs across the country, as many as 50,000 sudden cardiac deaths could be prevented,” says Stephanie Johnson, Community Relations Coordinator for St. Mary’s Hospital.  “Stories like Marc’s are so hard to hear, but by coming together like this, hopefully we can help make sure no other family goes through this.”

The new AED was dedicated at a special ceremony at the Sun Prairie Ice Arena on Thursday, January 21.  You can watch some of the media coverage below:

NBC-15 News

27 News