A vital member of the Massachusetts ski and snowboard community is in need of help from the community.
Michael “Big Mike” Privitera runs the ski school at Ski Bradford, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Big Mike is in need of a new kidney. A short film from New England-based videographer Alex Cole has been released documenting just how important Big Mike is to the Ski Bradford community.
“My name is Michael Privitera. I've been at Bradford since the 1994/1995 season. It's a great place to be for 3 months a year,” he says in the video. “We have a great staff here, and I’m only as good as all of them. Bradford’s just a part people’s day because we’re a neighborhood ski area, so to speak, if you want to ski after work you can come here and take a few runs. It’s just local.”
Tap or click to watch the video below.
Privitera, now 68 years old, has been a type 1 diabetic since the age of 30. He has been on dialysis for the past three years, for six hours every night while he sleeps. It’s a treatment that is only a temporary fix.
“It’s not the end of the world, but you can only do that for so long,” Privitera said. “And right now, I need to get a kidney sooner rather than later.”
In 2022. Privitera was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease. He told Boston.com in February that he physically feels pretty good, but knows that treatment can’t go on forever. His daughter Allison Colwell is unable to donate her own kidney because of her daughter’s potential need for a transplant of her own.
“There are not enough kidneys to go around in our family,” she said to Boston.com.
The team at Ski Bradford has ramped up its efforts to find a donor after several attempts to find a match have fallen short. The search has been extended nationwide.
Those who wish to fill out a donor form or learn more information can visit MGHLivingDonors.org, call 978-590-4139, or email BigMikeKidney@gmail.com.
Clik here to view.
Photo: Josh Sullivan/Snowboarder
Ski Bradford holds a special place in my heart, as a native New Englander. I didn’t grow up riding at Bradford, but when I got to the University of New Hampshire, I became friends with a few people who grew up skiing and riding there, and then later taught at the ski school or worked as a lifty. When I got a tight window to check it off my list last March, high winds suspended the operations for the day.
Disappointed, I made my way to a nearby diner to figure out what my next move would be. After I sat down at Mark’s Deli in downtown Haverhill, I was greeted by the owner Stavros Dimakis. I told him my situation. Then he gave me a funny look.
“I know the owner. Let me give him a call,” he said.
A phone call later, I was on my way to the ski area. I had the entire place to myself. It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had.