Benefit to help local regain speech

For weeks, nobody knew exactly what happened in the minutes before Newport Beach resident Alan Halderman collapsed on a dock in Catalina, where he was vacationing, after suffering a massive stroke.

Halderman, 53, was wearing swim trunks when he collapsed and had left his wallet back on his boat, anchored just off shore.

The stroke damaged the part of Halderman’s brain that governs communication, leaving him with a disorder known as aphasia.

Halderman couldn’t tell anyone who he was or what had happened, because he couldn’t talk.

For three days, Halderman was listed as John Doe at UCLA Medical Center in Torrance before police found his cell phone aboard his boat and used it to call his relatives.

Four months after his stroke, Halderman can say only a few words.

“Five seconds before,” Halderman recently managed to say to his sister, Sharon Frost, after seeing pictures he snapped aboard his boat in the hours leading up to the stroke.

Through hand gestures, Halderman communicated to his sister the stroke happened as he was rowing a dinghy to the dock from his boat. He tried to wave to people for help, but Frost thinks they must have thought her brother was drunk.

“Imagine not being able to communicate for one day — that is how he has to live his life now,” Frost said. “So far, there hasn’t been any significant progress, and it’s just heartbreaking.”

Halderman worked for more than 20 years at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa as part of the wine staff.

His friends and co-workers from Hi-Time have pitched in to throw a benefit silent auction, raffle and wine tasting in his honor 2 to 6 p.m. today at the store, 250 Ogle St.

Proceeds from the event will go toward sending Halderman to an intensive six-week aphasia therapy program at the University of Michigan.

With the cost of airfare and lodging, Halderman’s family estimates it will cost $30,000 to send him to the program.

Halderman’s co-workers from Hi-Time talk of his vast knowledge of wine, passion for fishing and how he use to ride his vintage Schwinn bicycle to work each day.

“He was the coolest guy to work with, sort of a jack of all trades,” said Todd Johnston, who manages the wine bar at Hi-Time and has worked with Halderman for the past eight years.

Halderman has never been married and has no children. He lives in a small apartment a few steps from the beach on the Balboa Peninsula with his cat, Buddy.

Johnston and Halderman would often go out fishing on Halderman’s boat before his stroke and would swap tales about their fishing exploits at work.

“When I heard he had a stroke and was in the hospital, I left work that second to go and see him,” Johnston said.

Johnston and the staff at Hi-Time have been helping Halderman by taking him to his speech therapy appointments. They’ve also amassed thousands of dollars worth of auction items and raffle prizes to raise money for his recovery.

Even customers from the store have pitched in, donating wine from their own cellars for the auction, said Hi-Time co-owner Tracy Hanson.

Some of the raffle prizes include: a free year’s worth of pizza from Original Pizza, gift certificates for Britta’s Cafe and a cruise for two from Gondola Company of Newport.

“All of our staff have a following from customers, and a lot of people know Alan,” Hanson said. “He’s like a family member.”

How To Help

To make a tax-deductible donation for Alan Halderman’s therapy, visit Giveforward.org and type in “Alan.”

Checks also can be made out to:

ABC

8017 Amapoa Ave.

Atascadero, CA, 93422

Benefit wine tasting, silent auction and raffle in Halderman’s honor at 2 to 6 tonight at Hi-Time Wine Cellars, 250 Ogle St.