Assemblyman Ari Brown donated his kidney. Here's how it went

Before the State Legislature returned to session this month, Assemblyman Ari Brown used his relatively free time in December to help a man in need, donating one of his kidneys to a Purple Heart-awarded veteran.

A blood donor for over 30 years, Brown, 55, who is also the deputy mayor of Cedarhurst, underwent a kidney transplant Dec. 11 with the recipient at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.

Brown had undergone a range of medical tests in recent years, required by the National Kidney Foundation, to determine whether he was a suitable donor. He was approved last year, and was matched with a patient.

“I was told I was one of the oldest live donors,” he said. “Usually there are people who are in their 20s, 30s or 40s, but I’m 55, which is not that old, but for kidney donation it is.”

According to the National Institute on Aging, one of every three people who donate an organ is over age 50.

All Brown knew about the recipient of his kidney was that he had been wounded in action and honored with a Purple Heart. The two men did not meet before the surgery. After the operation, which takes about four hours, according to the kidney foundation, Brown was up and walking, as if nothing happened, he recalled.

“I was walking around, and they said, ‘Wow, this guy is already walking?’” he said. “I walked the whole hospital.” He was discharged 36 hours later.

Renewal, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with kidney disease, which worked behind the scenes to match the two men, told Brown that they would arrange a meeting in the future, which he said he was looking forward to.

“They didn’t want us to meet until a future date, so I said, ‘What are we, kids?’” Brown joked. “We’re two grandfathers . . . but we’re going to meet in a more formal fashion, somewhere down the road.”

Brown, who has seven children, previously shared with the Herald his regret at not having joined the military in the early 1990s, when he was contemplating enlisting to serve in the Gulf War. Then 23, he had a young daughter and another child on the way, so he decided against it. He is an honorary major in the U.S. Air Force Civil Air Patrol, but he acknowledged that that isn’t the same as having served in the war.

At the hospital, Brown learned that the veteran had stepped on a landmine in combat, survived, and kept fighting. “That is a real hero,” he said.

The recipient did not want Brown to make his identity public.

Brown appeared on a segment of the Fox News morning show “Fox & Friends First” in November to explain why he decided to donate a kidney. Although he wasn’t looking for any recognition, he said he appreciated the acknowledgement.

“Everywhere throughout the world, people were sending me nice messages,” he said. “I’m not surprised. I’m an assemblyman, so I’ve used that to get the message of kidney donation out. An assemblyperson, probably a little more notoriety, will add something … ‘If Ari can do it, I can do it.’”

State Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, who also represents the Five Towns and has worked with Brown in Albany, noted the attributes that led him to donate an organ.

“As a legislator, there are few who would more vehemently or more appropriately advocate for his constituents, and his district is well served by his representation,” Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick wrote in an email. “As an individual, Ari is a loyal friend, who is dedicated to his family, unwavering in his principles, and completely selfless.

“Words can not describe the incredible gift he gave to the recipient of his kidney, which placed himself in harm’s way by going through such an extensive surgery,” she added. “I am honored to call him my friend and cannot imagine a better person to call my colleague.”

Brown continues to be an advocate for kidney donation, touting the profound impact of one selfless act.

“It’s not as scary as you think,” he said. “Whatever discomfort that you may have, the world and the lives that you’re saving and changing are certainly worth any discomfort or adjustments that you’d have to make.

“Literally changing worlds — not only this person, but his wife, kids, grandkids and whoever it may be,” Brown added. “You’re literally changing worlds.”