Michael's Story
The Making of a
MIRACLE
Michael is one of only three people in the world chosen for the groundbreaking Envoy Medical Acclaim® clinical trial with the Mayo Clinic in 2022. While most recipients take weeks or months to begin processing speech clearly, he began identifying words within 30 minutes, was singing along to music within hours, and experienced full clarity of speech and music within four days. Experts described his adaptation as “nothing short of a miracle.” His response is considered exceptionally rare and may represent a first in human history.
As a hockey goalie, Michael relied on instinct and split-second reflexes—but nothing could prepare him for what came next. His brain adapted at an unprecedented speed, challenging existing understanding of neurology and hearing science…
Michael’s Story: Triumph of the Human Spirit
Michael, a devoted single father from Columbus, Ohio, was selected as one of only three people in the world for a groundbreaking clinical trial involving the Envoy Medical Acclaim®—the first fully internal, invisible cochlear implant. But his incredible journey began decades earlier, quietly hidden from view.
Even as a young child, Michael displayed remarkable observational skills. At grocery stores, he’d enthusiastically point to products, reciting entire jingles and marketing slogans he’d memorized from television. His family found this endlessly amusing, unaware it was his unique way of interacting with and interpreting the world around him.
Silent Struggle
Michael’s hearing loss went unnoticed until a routine second-grade hearing test revealed hearing loss. His family was stunned—Michael appeared bright, alert, and engaged. By sixth grade, however, his struggle to hear became undeniable.
His mother took him to an audiologist at The Ohio State University, where extensive testing confirmed hearing loss. The audiologist, amazed by Michael’s academic performance, told his mother, “If he’s getting A’s and B’s with this amount of hearing loss, your son must be a genius.” Indeed, Michael was reading at a verified college level by sixth grade and was placed into the prestigious Junior Great Books program.
Michael’s intellectual curiosity also astonished his teachers. When he borrowed “The Hobbit” from his sixth-grade math teacher, Miss Rotuno, he returned it just three days later, eagerly asking for the next book. Miss Rotuno, stunned, exclaimed, “You read ‘The Hobbit’ in THREE DAYS?! It took me WEEKS to read it!” This extraordinary speed further highlighted Michael’s exceptional abilities and determination.
Yet, despite academic gifts, Michael’s adolescence was marred by isolation, depression, and deep anxiety. After being teased relentlessly for his hearing loss, he discarded his hearing aids entirely through high school, retreating inward and struggling academically. Only his passion for playing hockey as a goalie provided solace.
Hidden Genius
Unknowingly, Michael’s brain was performing an incredible feat called cross-modal plasticity. He could barely understand words, yet he navigated conversations by masterfully interpreting non-verbal cues, facial expressions, and contextual clues, leaving audiologists and everyone around him baffled. His best friend once joked, “I don’t know if he has a ‘hearing’ problem or if it’s a ‘listening’ problem,” unaware of Michael’s hidden, extraordinary mental effort.
Years later, encouraged by supportive loved ones, Michael regained the courage to wear hearing aids again. He enrolled in college at age 23, and even played college football.
A Miracle in Rochester
In August 2022, driven by hope and determination, Michael reached out to Envoy Medical and Mayo Clinic to inquire about participating in a revolutionary clinical trial for the Envoy Medical Acclaim®. Just two weeks later, he was at Mayo Clinic undergoing rigorous evaluations. He was officially implanted with the groundbreaking device on November 4, 2022, and returned one month later for the activation.
However, when the Acclaim implant was first activated, Michael was devastated. Sounds were chaotic—robotic, distorted, overwhelming. When Dr. Saoji clapped his hands, it sounded like a digitized racquetball striking a wall. Expecting immediate clarity, Michael was crushed. Doctors consoled him, asking only that he track the implant’s battery life until his next visit.
The Drive Home
Distraught, Michael turned the implant off in the Mayo parking garage and returned to his AirBnB, relying solely on his hearing aid in the non-implanted ear. After a restless night, Michael began his long, 14-hour drive home, still feeling defeated.
Shortly after embarking, but before even leaving the Rochester city limits, he had an epiphany: what if he could train his brain to hear with the new implant by listening to his music playlist on his long drive home? He would remove the hearing aid in his non-implant ear and solely rely on the Acclaim. The thought process was that this would force his brain to learn how to hear with the Acclaim, and the absence of the hearing aid would reduce any confusion during the process.
Determined not to accept defeat, he removed the hearing aid, turned the implant back on and started the playlist. Following the lyrics visually on his phone and using the bass to help determine the reference point in the song, he began singing and talking aloud, forcing his brain to decode the distorted sounds.
Within 30 minutes, something astonishing happened—he recognized bits and pieces of his own voice amidst the noise. Four hours later, every word he spoke or sang became crystal clear, although other sounds remained distorted. Four days later, all distortion disappeared completely—voices, music, everything sounded natural. Michael had achieved full auditory clarity at unprecedented speed.
Since that day in 2022, he hasn’t used a hearing aid again.
An exceptionally rare neurological event
Doctors described Michael’s rapid neurological adaptation as “nothing short of a miracle.” His adaptation is possibly the fastest documented neurological adjustment to a cochlear implant in human history—made even more extraordinary by the fact that the device itself was experimental and had never before been implanted in a human. The FDA had limited this early feasibility study to just three people due to the significant risk involved. But that risk didn’t deter Michael.
His courage was born early. As a toddler, his favorite book was Frankie the Brave Fireman. He would often ask family members to read it to him, captivated by the line: “Brave and ready, staunch and steady, tried and true, like the red, white and blue firemen.” Michael learned to be a hero at just two years old—and he never forgot it.
“We don’t always get a second chance,” Michael says, “let alone one that changes our life and potentially helps millions of others. Maybe someday, a little two-year-old will have this story read to them—and they’ll go on to do their own incredible things that change our world for the better.”
All I ask is that you give me your very best, and I promise you, I’ll give you mine
While in pre-op just before heading to the operating room, Michael’s surgeon Dr. Colin Driscoll—always a calm and caring presence—gently reminded Michael that he could still back out at any point, even on the OR table. Michael looked at him and said, “No way Doc—I’m not backing out. This is too important. All I ask is that you give me your very best, and I promise you, I’ll give you mine.” True to his word, Michael has never missed an appointment, even driving through blizzards for 28-hour round trips.
A Dedication to Paying It Forward
In 2021, Michael applied to donate part of his O-negative liver to help save a dying 9-year-old boy—the same age as his son, Mickey. He shared his decision publicly to raise awareness and encourage others to step forward. After his post went viral, reaching over 19,000 people, the children’s hospital’s donor intake department was inundated with calls, and a local donor was found just in time. A regular O-negative blood donor, Michael lives out his faith through action—setting an example for his son and striving to make a lasting difference in others’ lives.
Why Michael’s Story Matters
From quiet struggle to powerful purpose. From isolation to meaningful connection. From a world of limitations to a future of possibilities.
This is not the end of the story—just the beginning…
