9/11 first responder has hearing restored

Bryan Ahrens

Dan Moynihan said the deafness in his right ear began after spending more than a month clearing debris from Ground Zero following the destruction of the World Trade Towers in 2001.

Moynihan, a volunteer firefighter for nearly 20 years in Freeport, would be operated on in March 2012 to remove an acoustic neuroma, a noncancerous tumor, in his right ear that effects the nerve that connects the ear to the brain.

But, Moynihan said, he did not get his hearing back until February when a device called the Widex biCROS system was installed at no cost at Advanced Hearing Center in Albertson.

“This is stunning,” Moynihan said. “I’m grateful to everyone who made it possible. Now, I can hear my three year old nephew’s voice for the first time. I hear music the way it should be heard. I don’t have to arrive at the movies early to get a select seat and can enjoy a real conversation.”

The device employed by Advanced Hearing Center allows Moyniahn’s one deaf ear to pick up wireless frequencies through his left ear through a wireless connection. The device incorporates directional microphones to further stabilize the way the sound is heard.

“It is the only system available that communicates 21 times per second allowing for sharper, clearer hearing,” said Aviva Brandsdorfer, an audiologist and a regional sales manager for Widex, which is based in New Hyde Park.

Moynihan said regaining his full hearing has changed his life.

“Living with hearing loss led to social isolation and psychological difficulties, I had to fake conversations in a noisy restaurant or at family gatherings and cope with confusion as well as difficulty localizing to sound and balance issues,” he said.

Advanced Hearing Center partner Alison Hoffman, who donated the device to Moynihan, said his struggles hit home for her as several of her family members worked for the New York City Fire Department.

“Although we have donated hearing devices to those in need for several years, it was wonderful to help someone who put his own life on the line for others during that horrific time,” Hoffmann said.

Moynihan, 49, was called away from his job in Manhattan to Ground Zero 10 minutes after the first tower collapsed.  He would work under mounds of debris where he was exposed to highly toxic chemicals for another month,

Advanced Hearing Center is currently servicing Moynihan’s hearing device for five years without charge, Hoffman said.

During those five years, Hoffman hopes to install even more features to the system, including one that will allow Moynihan to hear calls from his house or cell phone through the biCROS system.

The device for which he was fitted is latest version of the Widex biCROS, which according to a release from the Advanced Hearing Center, has been successfully fitted on several hundred people. 

Share this Article