Abbotsford's Heart and Stroke Big Bike team won a provincial fundraising challenge and the right to award a new automated external defibrillator to the community location of its choice.

The Big Heart Champions team joined Abbotsford Mayor Bruce Banman to give the heart-starting device to Abbotsford Exhibition Park on Tuesday.

The moment was particularly meaningful for team member Dustin Heinrichs, 31, whose life saved by a paramedic's AED three years ago.

Heinrichs' wife Kristelle called 911 and performed CPR on her husband when he went into a sudden cardiac arrest at home.

When paramedics arrived, they used an AED to successfully restart his heart.

Without CPR and access to an AED, her husband wouldn't have survived, said Kristelle Heinrichs.

Heinrichs and his teammates rode to the top of the pack and won the AED with their exceptional fundraising efforts and community support for their team.

About 45,000 sudden cardiac arrests occur each year, the majority of which occur either at home or in public places, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation,

Defibrillation applied with CPR in the first few minutes of arrest improves a victim's chance of survival to up to 75 per cent.