Liberty graduate who spent months on life support with COVID defies odds and lives to complete doctorate

>>This month, Liberty University celebrates over 32,000 graduates who are ready to impact the world as Champions for Christ. Follow Liberty News for full Commencement coverage and more stories of trial and triumph from the Class of 2026.

Jill Elliott-Scannell (’01, ’26) began her Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership with Liberty University in March 2021, but her academic journey came to a halt when she contracted a near-deadly case of COVID-19 that November. After being sedated in a coma for a month with a low chance of survival, Elliott-Scannell miraculously recovered and spent the next few years rebuilding her strength and life. When she’d healed enough to continue, she reenrolled with Liberty and now celebrates her comeback as a member of the Class of 2026.

Elliott-Scannell first attended Liberty residentially in 2001 and received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a focus in special education. She loved her undergraduate years, and her deep appreciation for the university led her to enroll in Liberty University Online Programs, where she could study from her home in Delaware while working full time for a local K-12 charter school. When she contracted COVID, she didn’t realize at first how bad her case was. Her professors were supportive, checking in on her regularly and praying for her recovery, but within a week, her sickness worsened.

One morning, she woke up unable to breathe. Her husband, Kevin, called an ambulance, and the paramedics had to manually pump oxygen into her lungs when they arrived. Three days later at the hospital, her medical team shared devastating news: to save her life, she would need to be intubated and placed in a medically induced coma.

“They asked if I understood, and if I wanted to speak with my husband or have a pastor pray with me,” she said. “From their tone and expressions, I could tell they did not expect me to survive. All I could do was pray. I truly felt I was walking through the shadow of death, but I knew the Lord was with me. I held onto the promise: ‘By His stripes, I am healed.’”

While she was in the coma, doctors discovered she had COVID pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism. She remained in the coma from November through December, and on Dec. 9 — her birthday — the doctors advised her husband and four children that it was time to let her pass peacefully, as remaining on the ventilator much longer would severely damage her lungs.

“My family faced an incredibly difficult decision, but they stood firm in their faith. They believed the Lord would heal me,” Elliott-Scannell said, and her family declined to take her off support.

A week later, the doctors recommended the same course of action, and the family once again declined. That same evening, her husband received a call: Elliott-Scannell’s lung pressure had unexpectedly decreased to a safe level, and they could proceed with a tracheostomy, which would create an opening in her neck to facilitate breathing. It was the miracle her family had prayed for.

On Christmas Eve, doctors began weaning her off sedation, but she was not responding well, suffering seven strokes that affected both sides of her brain. The doctors said she may never wake up and that if she did, she would require 24-hour care for the rest of her life. For a third time, the medical team recommended taking her off life support, but her family said no.

“They believed God was not finished with my story,” Elliott-Scannell said.

Just a week later, her family’s faithfulness was rewarded again when Elliott-Scannell wiggled her toes, the first sign that she was waking up. Throughout January, she slowly regained consciousness. Her vision was impaired, and she had very little muscle control with no ability to hold up her head or move her body. But she was finally showing true signs of recovery.

“People from all over the country were praying for me,” she said. “My recovery has been long and difficult, but the Lord heard those prayers and performed a miracle that still cannot be explained by the medical community.”

She spent another month and a half in rehabilitation centers learning how to walk and talk again. She was discharged three months after she was admitted to the hospital, still on oxygen, but walking on her own.

The next two years were difficult as Elliott-Scannell recovered, but she said she never lost sight of the goal to earn her doctorate. In March 2024, she reenrolled with Liberty.

“It was definitely challenging at first. My vision had been affected by the strokes, so I had to retrain my brain and eyes to work together again,” she said. “Reading and visually tracking across lines of text was very difficult in the beginning. From a fine motor standpoint, I also had to relearn how to type and remember where the keys were on the keyboard. At first, my workflow was very slow, but through constant repetition and practice, my typing became more fluid and efficient again.”

Elliott-Scannell said her professors have been “incredibly supportive.” She noted Professor Dr. Lisa Colapietro, who reached out to her family several times during the coma to check on her.

“That kindness and compassion meant so much to our family during one of the hardest seasons of our lives.”

She said Liberty’s online format met her needs.

“As a mother of four very active children, while also working full time and rebuilding my stamina, the flexibility of online learning was essential for me,” she said. “Being able to work at my own pace and during times that fit my schedule made it possible to continue pursuing my degree.”

In October 2025, Elliott-Scannell successfully defended her dissertation, titled “Recommendations to Solve the Problem of Low SMARTER Balance Reading Proficiency Scores in Third Grade in Red Clay Consolidated School District in Delaware.” This week, she walked across the stage at her degree ceremony and graduated with a 4.0 GPA and distinguished honors.

“It feels very special and very full circle,” she said. “My entire family was there by my side as I walked across that stage, and that moment was a testimony to God’s goodness, grace, and healing power.”

Elliott-Scannell currently works as a District Special Education Coordinator for the Red Clay School District in Delaware, where she develops systems, processes, and professional development to support students with a wide range of abilities and disabilities. She will use her degree to continue bridging instructional practices between general education and special education and support school teams and district administration in complex legal situations involving students with disabilities. She said she is grateful for the ways God has used her experience to encourage others and strengthen her faith.

“Earning a doctoral degree is difficult on its own, but overcoming critical illness, rehabilitation, and the long process of rebuilding physically, cognitively, and emotionally is a whole different level of difficulty that is hard to fully put into words,” Elliott-Scannell said. “When I think back through everything my family and I have walked through, the only way I can truly explain it is simply this: But God.”