Woman Marries Her Lung Donor’s Brother
Jennifer Ellis got more than just two new lungs…she got the love of her life!
Jennifer Ellis was born with situs inversus, a rare condition where the body’s organs are flipped. Her heart, stomach and spleen are on the right side instead of the left, and her gallbladder and liver are on the left instead of the right. She was later diagnosed with a condition that can lead to frequent sinus infections and lung damage. Despite that, she led an active lifestyle and was Ms. West Virginia America 2015. But then her chronic situation led to her needing a double lung transplant, which she got in 2019 from a donor that turned out to be Jill Ellis. She ended up meeting her late donor’s family, including her brother Travis, who lived in Wisconsin. She immediately thought he was cute and had an instant connection…which led to falling in love!
He proposed in July 2023 and they married 14 months later. One of their special guests at their wedding was Jennifer’s pulmonologist and the medical director of Cleveland Clinic’s lung transplant and heart-lung transplant programs.