iBerkshires Profiles Pittsfield Firefighters Michael Sawicki and Randy Stein

By Susan Bush
09:12AM / Sunday, May 06, 2007

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from left, Pittsfield Fire Department Code Enforcement Division Inspector Randy Stein and Pittsfield Fire Department Firefighter Michael Sawicki. Sawicki donated a kidney to Stein in 2006. [Photo by Sue Bush]

Berkshire Profile is pleased to return as "iBerkshires Profile." The weekly Sunday feature will continue to focus on individuals making a difference in their communities with expanded profiles that include those living in Southern Vermont. iBerkshires Profile plans to showcase the everyday folks and entities making our region a unique and wonderful place to call home.

Pittsfield - City firefighters Michael Sawicki and Randy Stein spent their childhoods close geographically but apart in lifestyle.

Differences Could Be Measured In Miles....

Sawicki spent his youth with pals who also lived in the city's Morningside neighborhood.

"There was a bunch of us that hung out," Sawicki, 47, said during a May 5 interview at the Holmes Road Engine 6 quarters. "That was before the Morningside school was there. We had the Crane School and it was three doors down from my house. We'd be out there playing pick-up sports games, and hanging around. We had a lot of fun."

Stein's family lived in Hancock.

"My best friend lived five miles away and I had to ride my bike to see him," he said. "But I lived one mile from Jiminy Peak, and my mom worked there. That's where I worked when I was a kid and I had the free skiing."

For Sawicki, 41, the desire to battle flames for a living took root when he was a lad making treks to an ice cream stand.

"We used to go over to the Dairy Queen on Tyler Street and then we'd go look at the trucks at Engine 2," he said. "I always wanted to do this."

...And In Years

Stein's choice of profession followed four years in the U.S. Army and participation during Desert Storm.

"I was an Army engineer," Stein said. "When I got out of the Army, firefighting was one of my choices."

Sawicki has been employed by the fire department for 20 years, Stein has been a fire department employee for 12 years. Stein is an inspector with the Code Enforcement Division and Sawicki works from one of the city's satellite fire stations.

Stein's 1984 high school diploma came from the New Lebanon Central School high school in New Lebanon, N.Y. and Sawicki graduated from Pittsfield High School as a Class of 1977 member.

Sawicki is married to Linda Sawicki and the couple have three children. Stein has a 16-year-old daughter and shares his home with his girlfriend Barbara Cunningham and her two children.

"We have a full house," Stein said with a smile.

....But Not On The Inside

And smiling comes easier to Stein these days; his life and his health were vastly improved on June 14 2006.

That was the day Stein underwent a kidney transplant at the Bay State Medical Center. The donated kidney came from his friend and firefighting co-worker Sawicki.

Stein was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease several years ago. The condition is serious and from the outset Stein was advised that he would need a kidney transplant, he said. As a result of the polycystic condition, Stein's left kidney was removed and in early 2006, he began receiving dialysis therapy, which meant sitting for hours while a machine did the work of the kidneys.

Meanwhile, medical testing performed on family members revealed that there were no suitable transplant matches for Stein. Relative donation was not among his options. His name was placed on a state-wide list of those waiting for a kidney.

Stein's mother Beverly Stein had explored another possibility. She wrote to city firefighters and explained her son's situation. She asked firefighters to be tested to see if any were a match to Randy Stein. Her letter was posted at the city'sengine houses and distributed during a Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts meeting.

"We've Got You Covered"

Sawicki and another firefighter who'd undergone the blood and tissue type tests were deemed a match. Sawicki delivered the news to Stein, who was in the hospital.

"I said to him 'we've got you covered,'" Sawicki said. "We knew we were both a match and I know it's been written that I won the coin toss [to see who would donate a kidney] but [the other potential donor] actually won the toss. It turned out that I was a better match."

The firefighter also willing to donate a kidney to Stein has asked to remain anonymous.

Decisions about whether to be tested for possible donation purposes were private, Sawicki said.

"We didn't talk about it amongst ourselves," he said.

Great Doctors Deliver Great Result

Stein said that the prior kidney removal surgery revealed a left kidney that was significantly enlarged and bleeding from the polycystic condition. His right kidney remained affected by the disease and that was cause for concern; Stein said that cysts within the remaining kidney were bleeding and he needed to avoid a blood transfusion.

Had he received a blood transfusion, designation as a suitable transplant candidate would likely have been reversed, he said.

Sawicki and the other potential donor had many questions about the procedure and the impacts. Among those they consulted for advice was North Adams Fire Department Lt. Joseph Beverly, who'd donated a kidney to his cousin in 2002. A National Kidney Foundation www.kidney.org Internet web site provided an abundance of detailed information about transplants, Sawicki and Stein said.

Stein and Sawicki had words of praise for all the doctors involved with the transplant and recovery. Physicians from the Berkshire Medical Center and the Bay State Medical Center were part of the transplant and post-surgery recovery team.

Sawicki and Stein are fully recovered from the transplant surgery and both are back at work serving city residents. A kidney is not the only thing the two have in common, both love their job and the city.

Work Together Like Family

"To be in this job, you have to be a person that wants to help people," Stein said. "And there is a sense of brotherhood. We pick on each other, like family, but when that [fire alarm] bell rings, you work together like family."

"This job isn't like anything you'll ever do," said Sawicki. "People think that the fire department and the police department is kind of the same but a lot of police officers will tell you that they wouldn't want to run into a burning building. I'll tell you that I wouldn't want to be staring down the barrel of a gun like a police officer could."

Stein's 10-year plan includes continuing his career with the city fire department and building a new home in New Ashford.

"We want to stay in Pittsfield until the kids are out of school," Stein said. "In 10 years, I'll be in the new house and I'll be working right here, right in Pittsfield."

Sawicki's decade-down-the-road look included travel plans.

"I'll live here but I'll have a motor home and head to California for the winter," he said. "I have relatives out there."

"I'm Just Glad I could Help"

The transplant has meant Stein can continue to do work that he loves.

"I can help people who are facing an emergency," he said. "And I'm involved with a juvenile firestarters program, I go into the schools and I like working with the kids. I'm working with the elderly [for fire safety education] and I feel like I'm making a difference."

He had designated himself an organ donor before he became ill, Stein said.

"But I was on the receiving end of it," he said. "I'm very grateful that I received the gift of life."

Sawicki said his perspective about his career and the kidney donation is pretty much the same.

"Basically, I'm just glad I could help."