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Park Ridge Firefighter Mark "Cookey" Eisen, 63, was recently placed on the National Kidney Registry after diabetes caused late-stage kidney failure.
He’s scheduled to begin dialysis in 2021 but hopes to find him a kidney before then.
A veteran of seven years with the U.S. Navy, Eisen has been a borough firefighter for nearly three decades. He's considered “part of the fabric” of the borough, his company wrote in a Facebook post.
Eisen has served with the Park Ridge Elks, American Legion and Tri-Boro Volunteer Ambulance Corps’ Board of Governors, serving Park Ridge, Montvale and Woodcliff Lake.
“Through his actions and spirit of service, ‘Cookey’ has made the Park Ridge community a part of his family along with his wife, Marcia, and sons Scott and David,” his colleagues wrote.
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Now a granddad, Eisen grew up in the Bronx and served his country as a cook, a gunner and on the Navy’s helicopter crash team.
“I feel if someone is giving me their kidney I will need to take care of it,” Eisen wrote in his registry profile. “I have lost a serious amount of weight in the past few months. I have changed my eating habits and lifestyle.”
Loved ones are concerned, and Eisen doesn’t want them to worry.
“They have enough on their plates,” he wrote.
“Life is short and I would like to live as long as possible,” Eisen added. “I have a lot to live for.”
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