CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carla and Ruby Carswell are sister-in-laws, who are now raising awareness about lung disease after Ruby Carwell's husband died in 2018 of complications from a lung transplant.

What You Need To Know

  • The Fight for Air Climb is Saturday, March 25
  • It’s the annual fundraiser for the American Lung Association
  • Carla and Ruby Carswell are sister-in-laws raising awareness about lung disease

Carla Carswell, who lives in North Carolina, and Ruby Carswell, who lives in South Carolina, share a strong bond that goes beyond state lines.

The two talk on the phone every day, sometimes more than once.

Those talks got them through the loss of Carla Carswell's brother and Ruby Carswell's husband, Todd Carswell, who passed away from complications of a virus after a lung transplant in 2018.

“The greatest thing Todd left us was each other,” Carla said.“The greatest thing Todd left us was each other,” Carla said.

On Saturday, March 25, Carla Carswell will be climbing the steps at Truist Field in honor of her brother during the Fight for Air Climb, an annual fundraiser for the American Lung Association.

“He was always kind of my cheerleader in life, my best friend, always had my back. You know, that kind of brother, just full of life in his 56 years,” said Carla Carswell.

After his transplant, they say he really wanted to pay it forward but never got the chance.

“He said, 'You know people have been so kind to help us financially, emotionally, spiritually.' He said, 'When I get out, I want us as a family to pay it forward,'” Carla Carswell explained. "Of course that didn’t happen for Todd, but that is what we have said, Team Todd is paying it forward for Todd.”

“He would not want to see us living sad, he would want to see us living,” Ruby Carswell said.

Carla Carswell is also walking for other family members impacted by lung disease.

“My husband Chuck passed from lung cancer,” Carla Carswell said. "My mom, pulmonary fibrosis. Ruby’s daddy, from COVID."

Ruby and Todd Carswell met in May of 2017 and by December, the pair wed.

Ruby Carswell says they just knew.

“Oh yes, we knew,” she said. "I told him the day we met in person after talking on the phone, I guess three or four days just getting to know each other, talking about everything because that’s what you do when you are older and know better. So we conversed a lot, we didn’t mince any words and so we met on a Thursday night.”

“And I just said, 'I’m all in if you’re all in,'” she continued. "And he was like, 'Yea, I think we should do this.'”

Doctors first diagnosed Todd Carswell with a lung disease in 2015.

He was diagnosed with nonspecific interstitial pneumonia.

“The lung scars, and so, it kinda starts at the bottom and it scars and as the scaring occurs, that part of the lung becomes dead,” Carla Carswell explained.

Ruby Carswell knew about his diagnosis when they met, but they thought a lung transplant would be 10-15 years down the line.

However, two weeks after they married, doctors told Todd Carswell his lung function was declining. It continued to get worse and by May of 2018, he was on the transplant list.

Not long after, he received his new lungs.

"Again, fast and furious, that was our life,” said Ruby Carswell. “We had a few good months watching him recover and on the surface things looked really, really good. We just didn’t know what was happening underneath.”

Todd Carswell contracted a virus, which ultimately led to his passing.

The sister-in-laws say sharing his story helps them.

“It’s healing to continue to tell our story about lung disease,” said Carla Carswell.

“Life was absolutely more beautiful with Todd Carswell in it,” Ruby Carswell said.

They’ve raised more than $12,000, but you can still donate here.