Haddonfield native Brad Wilby died of cardiac arrest at 25. The foundation named for him donated the devices.
Haddonfield recently got a donation of three Automated External Defibrillators (AED), devices critical in sudden medical emergencies.
AEDs are electronic and portable and deliver electric shocks to restore a normal heartbeat in people who are in sudden cardiac arrest. The devices came from the Brad Wilby Memorial Foundation, named for a Haddonfield Memorial High School athlete who suffered cardiac arrest while coaching soccer at New York’s Hobart College in 2006.
Because of the lack of AEDs at the college, Wilby died at 25. The foundation now makes the devices accessible in as many public spaces as possible – and also provides scholarships in Wilby’s memory.
Becky Wilby is Brad’s sister and president of the foundation.
“There was no AED available when he had his sudden cardiac arrest,” she said of her brother. “So one of the missions of the foundation has become providing publicly accessible AEDs so that other families don’t have to endure what our family has gone through.”
While it’s impossible to know exactly how many deaths could be prevented every year by AEDs, the Red Cross estimates as many as 20,000 lives would be saved nationally with more of the devices available.
“When it comes to sudden cardiac arrest,” explained Wilby, “minutes matter, okay? And so having an AED that’s accessible on site can make the difference between a sudden cardiac arrest and a sudden cardiac death.”
The three AEDs donated to the borough will be placed in public and recreational areas, with one going to Crows Woods Nature Preserve in memory of soccer player and Haddonfield Memorial graduate Jeff Blank, who died in 2022.
Specific locations for the other two AEDs are still being determined, but plans suggest one for downtown and the other at a field or recreational space in Haddonfield, according to Wilby. Each device comes with instructions on how to properly aid someone in cardiac arrest.
While the Wilby foundation has provided scholarships for almost 20 years and made other AED donations, it has increased its push for the devices in recent years as discussions of creating heart-safe communities have become more prominent.
“We want to try to help Haddonfield become one of the first heart-safe communities in South Jersey,” said Wilby. “So we’ve coordinated with Haddonfield public safety to discuss what their needs are, as far as AEDs, in order to help make that identification as a heart-safe community possible.”
