NEWRY — A young Kennebunk man who “worked hard and played hard” despite losing a leg two years ago in a motorcycle accident, died Thursday doing what he loved: free-skiing.

Maine Handicapped Skiing volunteer and racer Ryan Fitzpatrick, 25, died en route to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway of injuries suffered when he skied into trees off Right Stuff, a black-diamond trail on Barker Mountain at Sunday River Ski Resort, officials said. The accident occurred at 10:22 a.m., a resort spokesman said.

A cause of death had not been determined by the State Medical Examiner’s Office, as of Friday.

Fitzpatrick, who played football in high school and later coached youth football, worked as a plumber for Pillsbury’s in Kennebunk and “cleared land and cut trees until the light was gone” in his evening job, according to his obituary.

He also had a passion for the outdoors and was an avid hunter, fisherman, motorcyclist and skier who enjoyed being active. He spent weekends with family and friends, often in the Maine woods.

In the summer of 2008, Fitzpatrick was severely injured in a motorcycle accident and lost a leg.

He worked all summer at the Orthopaedic Associates’ Parisi Speed School in Saco, getting ready for winter when he became a volunteer for the Maine Handicapped Skiing program. He also worked at the Shipyard Brew Haus at Sunday River.

“Being at the mountain, he simply glowed,” his family wrote in his obituary. “You could truly see his happiness that he had for meeting new people, along with helping them.”

Bill Stearns of Bethel, an adaptive race team coach and friend who first trained and then later coached Fitzpatrick, said this winter was Fitzpatrick’s first year on the adaptive race team that represents Maine Handicapped Skiing and Sunday River throughout New England.

“He was a very, very good skier and a quite impressive young man,” Stearns said. “He was a fine young man and he was able to contribute to days of training, and give of his own experience, and it was quite valuable.”

Stearns said he last saw Fitzpatrick at the Veterans/No Boundaries program on Saturday. Fitzpatrick and other Handicapped Skiing race team members had volunteered to help disabled veterans learn to ski and race competitively.

“I was pretty broken-hearted when I got the news,” Stearns said. He learned of Fitzpatrick’s death late Thursday by e-mail. “This is the ultimate tragedy.”

This spring, Fitzpatrick was poised to mentor newly injured amputees and volunteer as a demonstrator at the University of New England’s orthopaedic school.

Handicapped Skiing Director of Outreach Eric Topper, who said he was deeply affected by the tragedy, recalled Fitzpatrick’s prowess as a free skier, which made him such an obvious choice to help represent Maine Handicapped Skiing on the race team.

“He transitioned from student to instructor in record time, realizing quickly that he could do as much — if not more — good toward his own recovery by sharing his experience and knowledge with others,” Topper said.

“The bottom line is, he was a part of our family, too, and the whole community is going to miss him deeply,” Topper said.

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Visiting hours for Ryan Fitzpatrick will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14, and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 15, at Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St. in Kennebunk, Maine.

A funeral service will be held at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 15, at Holy Spirit Parish, St. Martha’s Catholic Church, 30 Portland Road (Route 1) in Kennebunk.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in honor of Ryan Fitzpatrick to: Maine Handicapped Skiing, In Memory of Ryan R. Fitzpatrick, 8 Sundance Lane, Newry, ME 04261.