A photo of a emergency AED on a wall with the text overtop "Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month Featured Story - David Jablonski"

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Awareness Month Featured Story – David Jablonski

Community News Oct 12, 2026·4 min read

October is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, and this year's story comes locally from Bexley Ohio's David Jablonski. David, a player on the Bexley Bananas soccer team, suddenly collapsed during half-time, and was unresponsive without a pulse. He was very fortunate to be surrounded by extremely ...

aed-trainers community-support cpr-awareness customer-stories

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Awareness Month Featured Story – David Jablonski

Our featured story for this year's Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month comes locally from Bexley, Ohio’s David Jablonski. David experienced a frightening cardiac arrest event on Sunday, Sept. 20^th, while playing a soccer game with his team, the Bexley Bananas. He was very fortunate to be surrounded by extremely knowledgeable teammates and family members who helped save his life through quick action, CPR, and the use of an AED.

David Jablonski’s Story:

David Jablonski is a sports writer for the Dayton Daily News and is heavily involved in athletics himself. Most recently, he has been running, playing basketball, and playing soccer on the local Bexley Bananas soccer team. During a friendly match on September 20^th, David walked over to the sidelines during halftime, where he suddenly collapsed. Unlike fainting from exhaustion or dehydration, his collapse was more serious than it initially may have appeared. David was unresponsive, foaming at the mouth, and had started turning blue, as reported by 10 WBNS & The Dayton Daily News.

David's teammates, Dr. Jon Montemayor and Dr. Chad Liber, were fortunately nearby and responded almost immediately. David's dad, Dr. Jeff Jablonski, quickly joined them and checked for a pulse, but there was none. His teammates quickly located an AED, stationed at Bexley High School, where they were playing their match. The AED was placed on his chest, and a shock was advised. The AED delivered two shocks to David, and compressions were administered by Dr. Liber until he came to. The speed at which the people around him were able to respond, plus access to life-saving equipment, saved David's life. Soon after he regained consciousness, the EMT squad arrived and took him to Grant Medical Center.

David was in the hospital from September 20^th through the 25^th, where he received four stents in three arteries and an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. Using his skills as a journalist and sense of humor, David kept friends and family updated through Facebook posts where he documented his hospital stay. Following his hospitalization, David began Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab at Grant Medical Center to learn how to safely continue his active lifestyle with friends and family for years to come.

The Importance of Access:

David Jablonski’s story emphasizes how quick reactions and availability of medical equipment can save everyday people’s lives. The City of Bexley offers free CPR & AED training each month and has multiple public AEDs available through the HeartSafe Bexley initiative. Public AEDs are often registered through the National Emergency AED Registry (NEAR). AED location information may be quickly found through the PulsePoint Respond app, which is funded by the non-profit PulsePoint Foundation. MCR Medical has an AED available to the public that is registered and may be found through PulsePoint as well.

MCR Medical’s Commitment to Training:

MCR Medical is committed to providing quality CPR & AED training supplies to better prepare instructors and students for real-life scenarios. Currently, MCR offers all PRESTAN & WNL AED Trainer models. These trainers mimic Public Access AEDs, featuring clear voice prompts that guide the user through AED use. MCR Medical has AED First Responder Training kits available that mimic the items found in live AED kits. When used with AED trainers, people get a better understanding of how to prepare the chest for correct emergency AED use.

Expanded equipment access and CPR education are integral to ensuring that anyone is able to get help as quickly as possible, greatly increasing the chance someone survives a cardiac arrest event. Bexley’s HeartSafe initiative is a great example of how access saves lives. We are grateful to David Jablonski for publicly sharing his experience, and to the people around him who were able to jump into action.