Selena Gomez says she’s ‘forever in debt’ to BFF Francia Raísa for donating her kidney in 2017
Actor-singer Selena Gomez has been very open about her battle with Lupus – an autoimmune disease. Due to complications that arose in 2017, the Calm Down hitmaker was in need of a kidney transplant and her best friend and actor Francia Raisa came to her rescue during the trying times and donated one of her kidneys to Selena. Opening up about the incident on the latest episode of Apple TV+’s documentary series Dear …, the 30-year-old said she is “forever in debt” to Francia Raisa.
“My best friend. Her name is Francia. She said, ‘No, I am absolutely getting tested. And within three days, she went to get tested, and she was a match. And it was one of those moments where I felt watched over. I know I was so so so lucky,” shared Gomez.
Acknowledging how lucky she had been to get a donor, Gomez continued, “I understand that that doesn’t happen for a lot of people, and I know the outcome of some of those situations and how serious they are, so I do not take it lightly that it’s happened to me that way”.
The heart wants what it wants singer shared her gratitude towards kidney donor and best friend Francia. “I will never ever, ever be more in debt to a person than Francia. The idea of someone not even second-guessing to be a donor was unbelievably overwhelming.”
Post the kidney transplant, the BFFs also got matching tattoos with the date of the kidney transplant.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system starts attacking its own tissues and organs. The condition mostly affects the kidney, but also impacts the skin, blood vessels, connective tissue, heart, brain, and practically every organ. According to WebMD, “Many people who have active lupus feel ill in general. They have fever, weight loss, and fatigue. When their immune system attacks a certain organ or part of the body, they can also have more specific problems”.
