West Virginia woman met her husband after getting donor lungs from his late sister

Video credit: Cleveland Clinic via Storyful

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — A woman from West Virginia got a new chance at life and found the love of her life thanks to organ donation.

Jennifer Ellis, of Fayetteville, was placed on a lung transplant waiting list in 2018 after symptoms from her genetic conditions situs inversus and primary ciliary dyskinesia worsened and she was hospitalized for 10 months.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, where then-named Jennifer Skaggs was treated, she first noticed her symptoms worsening in 2015, the same year she was crowned Ms. West Virginia America.

On Sept. 14, 2019, after years of constant illness, trouble breathing and being on oxygen, Jennifer received the call—lungs were available. In a video from that day – which can be watched in the player above – Jennifer says, "It's definitely bittersweet because I know some beautiful young lady had to pass away in order for me to get my lungs. I don't know that I'll ever know who you are, but thank you."

Little did she know that she would become part of her donor Jill Ellis' family in five year's time.

After Jennifer received her lungs and went through the lengthy healing process, she received a Christmas card from Jill's family, to which she replied with a six-page thank you letter. The Ellis family stayed in contact, got to know Jennifer, and eventually came from Wisconsin to visit her in West Virginia. That's when Jennifer met Travis Ellis – Jill's brother.

“When I met Travis for the first time, I thought he was cute as could be. But I never thought in a thousand years it would turn into anything. It wasn't even an option in my head because of the distance," Jennifer said in a Cleveland Clinic release.

However, the pair grew closer, and Travis moved to West Virginia and proposed in July 2023. They got married on Sept. 28, 2024, just over five years after Travis' sister's lungs saved Jennifer's life.

Jennifer encourages everyone to become an organ donor like Jill, who saved five other lives in addition to Jennifer's with her donation.

“Becoming an organ donor saves lives. It allows others to create memories they wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for organ donation. Without my donor, I would have never met the love of my life,” Jennifer said.

For more information about organ donation, click here.