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.
