FORT SMITH, Ark. — Born and raised in Fort Smith, Greenwood Police Officer John Michael O’Mara has been dealing with hearing loss for as long as he can remember.
"I actually refused to wear hearing aids," O’Mara said. "I didn't like the way that it sounded like a 1960s television in the background all the time. I actually got my first set of hearing aids when I was in high school, and they didn't really fit my particular type of hearing loss."
Despite his hearing loss worsening, O’Mara did not let that stop him from continuing in his family’s footsteps of public service.
"My family actually has about 12 people that have been in law enforcement through several generations working for a total of 19 departments," O’Mara said. "I think I'm sixth or seventh generation."
Despite being fully able and capable of carrying out the duties of a police officer, having worked for Sebastian County before his time at Greenwood, O’Mara said some tasks were not the easiest for him.
"I absolutely hated interviewing people because I knew that they would be saying things and I'd have to ask them to repeat themselves several times," O’Mara said. "And now I don't have to ask people to repeat themselves several times."
In June 2023, O’Mara received a cochlear implant from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock.
O’Mara’s Audiologist Dr. Caitlyn Crowder-Jenkins said the cochlear implant sends electrodes to parts of an ear that acoustic hearing aids can not. According to Dr. Crowder-Jenkins, hearing aids were no longer providing the audio capabilities O’Mara needed.
Following the procedure and after one month of the implant being activated, Dr. Crowder Jenkins said O’Mara’s speech understanding ability went from 10% to 90%.
"They said that I made phenomenal progress and that I was way ahead of the curve of where I was supposed to be," O’Mara said. "They actually canceled my six-month appointment, and I haven't been back since, but it has been a huge change."
O’Mara said he is now a better communicator as an officer and can hear things he hadn’t been able to before, like the beeping of a car when warning the driver to put on a seatbelt.
The stubborn attitude toward not wearing his hearing aids as a kid is the same energy O’Mara uses toward his work.
"It’s one of those things where you can always do what you set your mind to," O’Mara said. "If you really want to do something, find a way to do it."
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