MONROE — At a visitation for his best friend, Gary Aebly suffered a medical event that caused his heart to stop. His grandson, Trevor, started and continued CPR until the first responders were able to arrive. 

During this event, it was asked if the funeral home had an AED on location. It was determined that they did not. Aebly regained a pulse and woke up when the first responders arrived. He was transported to the local hospital and treated. 

After the ordeal, the Aebly family wanted to give back the funeral home. Being a family with many different first responders, current and past, they wanted to help others in their time of need. It was then determined that they would buy AEDs to donate to the two funeral homes in Monroe, Newcomer, and Shriner Hager Gohlke. AEDs cost about $2,000 each, so it was not an easy purchase to make — until the members of the Monroe Volunteer Firefighters Inc., made the donation to help pay for the AEDs. 

With the money that was donated, two AEDs were purchased along with a cabinet to be hung somewhere in the funeral home. 

The Aebly family wanted to honor Randy Whitney, Gary’s best friend, who tragically passed away. The AEDs were donated in his memory. On April 25, the Aebly family, along with Randy’s wife and other members of the Whitney Family, presented the AEDs to the funeral homes.