Selena Gomez had a kidney transplant to help her recovery from the ravages of Lupus.
That’s a major procedure. What makes this story so touching, though, is that Selena’s friend and fellow actress, Francia Raisa, was the donor.
Selena only broke the transplant news this morning, but Francia is speaking out and sharing what she gained from the experience.
This is the kind of ride-or-die friendship that most of us can only dream of.
Francia Raisa may not be as well known as Selena Gomez, but they’ve referred to each other as “sister” and “hermana” for years.
(“Hermana” just means “sister,” folks)
Francia is an actress in her own right, having appeared in TV series as well as films over the years, but there’s no shame in being a smaller name beside a celebrity titan like Selena Gomez.
Selena, after all, is a world-famous singer and actress. Oh, and she recently graced the cover of Time.
Selena has been very up front about her battle with Lupus after first revealing that she suffers from the disease, just under two years ago.
Lupus is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks healthy tissue as if it were, say, an intrusive virus or, like, cancer.
Lupus used to be an automatic death sentence. These days, treatments exist to mitigate the effects.
But there is no cure.
Even someone like Selena, who can afford top-notch medical care, had to have a kidney transplant.
Francia Raisa is posting about the transplant and the experience of it.
And she is grateful.
“I am beyond grateful that God would trust me with something that not only saved a life, but changed mine in the process.”
Doing something this powerful and selfless can really transform your worldview at times.
It sounds like Francia and Selena are going to tell the world more about this … just not yet.
“This was part of our story, and we will share it soon, but what is important now is that this is not the only story.”
And, of course, comes the plug. Not of a product, but of an education tool.
“For more information regarding Lupus, please go to the Lupus Research Alliance website: www.lupusresearch.org.”
And then an affectionate message, directed at Selena.
“Love you sis, so glad we’re on this journey together.”
Obviously, Selena Gomez has already expressed her gratitude for her friend’s donation.
There’s really nothing so profound that you can do for someone as giving them one of your vital organs.
And let’s be clear — you may have two kidneys, but they are vital organs.
Without at least one functioning kidney, you either get dialysis or succumb to blood poisoning and die.
(It’s a little more complicated than that … but not much)
One day soon, we’re sure, cloned organs will be a matter of course for everyone’s healthcare, whether you’re in dire need of a transplant or just need a replacement because your previous organ is old and worn.
(We already have the technology to grow organs — it’s making sure that they’re viable for transplant and managing affordability that are still issues)
Until then, everyone — from the woman with the most Instagram followers in the world to we regular folks, depends upon organ donation for survival.
We look forward to hearing more of the story of Selena’s transplant and hearing how Francia reached this decision.
But we can say that Selena has already been spotted out and about since she broke the news in the wee hours of this morning, so it looks like she’s made a full recovery.