John and Veronica O'Donnell were workaholics.

They never took vacations, worked weekends — she as a nurse, he as a construction foreman in New York City — and spent much of the little free time they had on their porch, sharing a beer and some laughs with friends.

When they arrived in Hawai'i early this week, it was the farthest they had traveled from their home in East Rockaway, N.Y., in years. Their two adult children bought them the trip as a surprise for their 25th wedding anniversary.

"Both of them were so looking forward to it," said friend Tony Crescitelli.

But their dream vacation ended in tragedy on Thursday, when John O'Donnell, 45, and two other passengers aboard a Heli USA chopper were killed in a crash near Princeville Airport. The other passengers who died were identified as Margriet Inglebrecht, 19, and Teri McCarty, 47. Pilot Joseph Sulak also was killed.

The three survivors — one from each of the couples aboard the flight — were critically injured and remain at The Queen's Medical Center.

ON THEIR 'HONEYMOON'

One of those clinging to life is Cornelius Scholtz, who married Inglebrecht 11 months ago in Namibia. The two lived together in Santa Maria, Calif., where Scholtz is a pharmacist at a Rite Aid drug store, but they were born and raised in Africa.

Inglebrecht is originally from Namibia, and Scholtz from South Africa.

Their trip to Kaua'i was the honeymoon they never had after getting married.

Scholtz's family said the 31-year-old is communicating with a friend at the hospital by blinking his eyes to yes or no questions. He doesn't know his wife was killed, and likely will not be told until his family can get to Hawai'i, relatives said.

They are putting together their flight arrangements.

Scholtz's sister, Magrietha Scholtz, said she does not know the extent of her brother's injuries, only that he is very badly hurt.

"We're still in shock," Scholtz said from her family home in Rustenberg, South Africa. "Margriet was such a lovely person. We all loved her very much. Obviously, we're devastated."

Adolfo Ortega met Cornelius Scholtz three years ago, when the two worked together at CVS Pharmacy in Santa Maria. He said Scholtz was always talking about his girlfriend in South Africa. Finally, when she became Scholtz's wife, Ortega got to meet her. "Her smile would just melt you," Ortega said yesterday.

Ortega found out about the crash Friday morning, when he got a hysterical call from his wife just as he was about to open the pharmacy.

"I just froze," he said. "I just couldn't move."

Ortega remembered Scholtz as a personable guy, popular among customers for his warm laugh and wide smile. Around the store, he was known as "Neels."

"During those first years I knew him, he was just so excited about getting married soon," Ortega said, "Every year he would take a month to go back to South Africa, and he would just be with his girlfriend. Last year, they tied the knot."

TRIP OF A LIFETIME

For James and Teri McCarty of Cabot, Ark., their vacation to Hawai'i was the trip of a lifetime. They had dreamed for years about leaving their close-knit, central Arkansas town of 29,000 for a romantic getaway in Hawai'i.

Teri McCarty was 47, her husband is a year older.

"My aunt and uncle were on that helicopter and my aunt did not make it," wrote the McCartys' niece, who identified herself as Shelley on an Advertiser on-line message board Friday. "She waited her entire life to go to Hawai'i."

The niece said James McCarty is undergoing surgery at Queen's "to look like himself again," and had several broken bones. She added, "What a wonderful vacation for them — she lost her life and he lost everything in his life."

Relatives say the prognosis for Veronica O'Donnell, the 45-year-old New York woman in the crash, appears fairly good. But they fear her emotional recovery will take much longer — and be much more difficult — than her physical one.

And they can't imagine her without husband John by her side.

"It's just so tragic," said Crescitelli, who met the couple three years ago, when they moved in next door. "I feel for the kids. I lost a good friend."

Crescitelli said John O'Donnell's one guilty pleasure was fishing.

"The two worked Saturdays, Sundays sometimes, just non-stop. But sometimes, when he had free time, we did a bit of fishing," Crescitelli said. "He was a hard-working man."

Sandra, who identified herself as Veronica O'Donnell's sister on the online message board, said she is trying to deal with the grief of her brother-in-law's death while she also deals with concern for her sister's health.

"So far, the prognosis is good for my sister," she wrote, "and I now believe there is a God after all."

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.