Selena Gomez ‘could have died’ following kidney transplant

By Press Association

March 9 2018, 8:47 am

Selena Gomez could have died following her kidney transplant, her friend and organ donor has said.

Actress Francia Raisa, 29, donated a kidney to the 25-year-old, who suffers from lupus, last year.

Raisa told W magazine: “Recovery was hard … Selena did have a complication, too. A few hours after our surgery, I woke up and had a text from her that said ‘I’m really scared’.

I’m very aware some of my fans had noticed I was laying low for part of the summer and questioning why I wasn’t promoting my new music, which I was extremely proud of. So I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering. It was what I needed to do for my overall health. I honestly look forward to sharing with you, soon my journey through these past several months as I have always wanted to do with you. Until then I want to publicly thank my family and incredible team of doctors for everything they have done for me prior to and post-surgery. And finally, there aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa. She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis. Lupus continues to be very misunderstood but progress is being made. For more information regarding Lupus please go to the Lupus Research Alliance website: www.lupusresearch.org/ -by grace through faith
A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Sep 14, 2017 at 3:07am PDT

“My kidney was very active, and when it turned I broke an artery. They had to take her into emergency surgery and get a vein from her leg and build a new artery to keep my kidney in place. She could have died.”

She said of initially keeping the operation secret: “We didn’t want to tell anybody because recovery was very hard for us, and we went through a depression at the time.”

Raisa told of the moment she decided to donate, saying that Gomez “was asking me about my day and she grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and tried to open it and couldn’t.

“Then she threw it on the floor, and she fell to the floor and started crying. I was like ‘What is wrong with you?’ She said ‘I need a new kidney. I don’t know what I’m going to do, the waitlist is seven to 10 years.’ And it just came out of me.”