From his hospital bed at North Shore Hospital you wouldn't know Ash Hodges had suffered cardiac arrest only six days ago.

The 30-year-old was playing club football on Saturday when he collapsed on the field and was saved by the efforts of his teammates and bystanders, and the availability of an automated external defibrillator (AED).

It was about 10 minutes before the end of the game, between West Auckland and Beachlands Maraetai association football clubs at Te Puru Community Centre, when Hodges recalls face-planting to the ground and everything going dark.

Referee Tony Westmoreland witnessed the event, and said at first it looked like Hodges was stumbling and then his body appeared to be going into spasms.

Westmoreland said a whole bunch of people rushed to Hodges' aid, including teammate Dan Whiting - a lifeguard experienced in giving CPR.

"Almost immediately they started doing CPR but the guy just went blue," Westmoreland said.

Whiting said his first aid training kicked in and he put Hodges into the recovery position.

"I held him in the recovery position because he was still managing to breath, but it was quite difficult for him, and then he stopped breathing.

"I jumped in and started doing CPR and then started asking people to go and find a defibrillator."

Brian Preston, club president of Beachlands Maraetai, said when first responders realised Hodges wasn't breathing, a Te Puru staff member ran to retrieve an AED on site.

"They shocked him about three times with the defibrillator. Apparently he was gone for about five minutes," he said.

Whiting said the shocks got his heart going again and then a doctor, who was playing on the other side of the field, came over and helped monitor Hodges' progress.

Hodges said his next memory was feeling like he was in a dark, deep dream, but he could hear the sound of the automated voice on the AED and people around him.

"It wasn't until someone asked if I have ever had heart problems before that I knew that is was probably a heart attack or cardiac arrest," he said.

Hodges was taken to Middlemore Hospital, before he was transferred to North Shore.

Yesterday he underwent an MRI and received potentially life changing news.

"Yesterday I found out that I have a weaker left ventricle, some scarring around the heart that is not all there, and an irregular heart beat as well," he said.

"I think that, and a lot of exercise and running around madly, led to what happened.

"From what I hear, the plumbing was all good but the electrics weren't."

He now has to have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) placed in his chest.

"If this was to ever happen again it would just go off and set me back straight.

"It is high risk, but then again some people are saying it might not ever happen again and I may live a normal life.

"There is a question mark whether I will ever play footy again though, but there is always golf."

Hodges said he is just happy to be alive.

"Obviously there were some key moments with a couple of my close mates, for example Dan doing CPR, that led to my survival.

"I was very lucky the club had a defibrillator on hand. Without that I probably wouldn't be here."

Hodges' experience has brought home the importance of defibrillators being available to the public.

"I think it's clear that if the defibrillator wasn't there, he would have either died, or the CPR would have kept him going but the lack of oxygen to the brain would have meant that Ash would've had some form of brain damage," Whiting said.

"The thing that kept him alive and kept him from having any form of brain damage was having the defibrillator there."

Whiting believes AEDs should be available at all sports clubs in New Zealand.

"I would 100 per cent agree to having all sports club getting one, especially after seeing what I have seen," he said.

"It is a pretty horrific experience to have to go through. Seeing one of your mates go into cardiac arrest and almost die in your arms, it is not something you expect to happen, especially with such a fit young character.

"I never really would have thought about it until this whole thing happened, so I think it is quite important to highlight that this is an important thing to have on site ready to go."

Preston said the event also highlighted the need to have more education around where AEDs are and how to use them.

"This have proven that it can happen to anyone. I think all sports clubs should have them. It should be mandatory, a mandatory thing."

Westmoreland also believed AEDs should be provided at all community facilities.

"It would be great if virtually every place had one because that little box, which is no more than about 10 inches square and 4 inches deep, saved that guys life.

"It is such a great thing, and if it wasn't there the guy would have died. I don't think they are hugely costly things to have, but it is for the price of someone's life."

Red Cross product development manager Marcus Bird said it has invested really heavily in trying to get AEDs into the community.

"Unfortunately with every minute that defibrillation is delayed, survival can drop by as much as 10 per cent, so the best place for AEDs is in the community.

"If we can train people in first aid and to recognise they need an AED and how to use it, then we can have really significant improvements of those casualties," he said.

"A good example is North Canterbury, where we have installed outdoor community stations that are temperature controlled and have a pin code that is registered with 111.

"These are placed outside sports clubs, libraries, in sub-divisions and in community centres – so places where people meet and gather together."

St John medical director Dr Tony Smith said in New Zealand around 2000 people a year suffered sudden cardiac arrest, and less than 14 per cent survive.

"AEDs are easy to use and double people's chances of survival," he said.

With modern AEDs, you simply open the lid and it talks to you and tells you every step of what to do.

Some models even tell you how to do CPR, and when you are doing the CPR, if you are not pushing hard enough or fast enough, it will tell you.

* Any organisation or individual looking to purchase a St John AED can do so online at:
• The St John website.
• The Red Cross online shop.

To contribute to fundraising efforts to get an AED at Hodges' club, West Auckland AFC, go to their Givealittle page.