Selena Gomez's Friend Francia Raisa Donated Her Kidney & Her Selfless Act Is Changing Lives For The Better
When Francia Raisa donated her kidney to best friend Selena Gomez over the summer, she didn't just give the pop star a new lease on life. She got a new lease on her.
"I am beyond grateful that God would trust me with something that not only saved a life, but changed mine in the process," Raisa wrote on Instagram Friday, with the same photo Gomez used to reveal her surgery. "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."
After the surgery, Raisa wants to take part in Gomez's efforts to raise awareness and money for lupus research. In her Instagram post she even included the link to the Lupus Research Alliance website to encourage others to educate themselves about the autoimmune disease.
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"Love you sis," Raisa wrote. "So glad we’re on this journey together."
According to E! News, when Gomez shared the news of her transplant, traffic to LupusResearch.org rocketed, and the singer-actress has raised a total of $500,000 for the organization.
"As a result of her encouragement to visit our website, LupusResearch.org, to learn about lupus, our phones have been ringing off the hook and our website traffic has soared," Kenneth Farber, the alliance's president and CEO, told E!. "Selena has supported our organization in many ways, donating a portion of tickets sales for her last concert tour to the Lupus Research Alliance and requesting donations to us on the occasion of her birthday, as well as yesterday's announcement."
Raisa, an actress whose next big role will be in the Black-ish spinoff Grown-ish, has yet to give any interviews about what she did for Gomez. However, her mother, Virginia Almendarez, appeared on the Telemundo show Al Rojo Vivo to speak about her daughter's decision to help her friend.
"People need to know that you can live with one kidney," Almendarez said, admitting that she was worried about the procedure at first. "There are a lot of individuals that get scared to donate to people that need it because they're afraid of never again living a normal life. But there is no danger."
Almendarez said she visited the girls as they recovered in a house Gomez rented for that purpose that was filled with nurses to look after them. She also dispelled the rumor that Raisa donated her kidney for financial gain. There is only one thing that Raisa did gain: "The love between them has grown more."
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