Former Councilman Lew Fidler In Urgent Need Of A Kidney

Former Council member and Southern Brooklyn Democratic power broker Lew Fidler is in need of a kidney, and has turned to friends, family and supporters on Facebook in hopes of finding a match.

Fidler, who now works for the Brooklyn Borough President after representing Sheepshead Bay, Marine Park and other Southern Brooklyn neighborhoods in the City Council for 12 years, posted an urgent plea on his Facebook page Friday morning.

“While I am doing resonably well in the short term, dialysis will likely take its toll, perhaps sooner rather than later,” he wrote. “I need a kidney transplant as soon as possible.”

Fidler’s health problems first became public in 2012 when he sought the State Senate seat vacated by the disgraced Carl Kruger. He stepped back from campaigning against Republican David Storobin when he had a severe allergic reaction to his medication.

The reaction caused kidney failure, and Fidler has endured regular kidney dialysis treatment ever since.

Dialysis replicates many of the functions of a healthy kidney and is needed when the critical organ can no longer remove toxins from the bloodstream. Though kidneys can sometimes make a full recovery, the damage is more often irreversable. A typical dialysis treatment lasts four hours and is done three times a week, and can often be followed by discomfort and nausea.

Despite this, the bustling pol returned to the campaign trail in 2012, and has since kept his typical hustled schedule, seldom missing a community meeting as he finished up his final term in 2013, and is still frequently seen at local events.

Fidler, who has blood type A+, is asking potential donors to contact Renewal, a nonprofit that helps facilitate kidney donations. Renewal can be reached at (7198) 431-9831 or R814@renewal.org