Actress Francia Raisa has revealed that pop star Selena Gomez was in danger of losing her life after her kidney transplant last year. Raisa, who donated one of her kidneys to Gomez, has come out with more details on the dangerous aftermath of the life-changing surgery.
Last year, Gomez announced on social that she was laying low from public appearances because she had undergone a kidney transplant surgery. The pop star revealed in 2015 that she had been diagnosed with lupus, and consequently had to go through chemotherapy and check herself into rehab. However, she later learned that she also had to have a kidney transplant due to the effects of her disease.
Lupus can affect the kidneys, making dialysis or a kidney transplant necessary.
Gomez also revealed in her announcement that Raisa, her long-time friend, had been the one to donate a kidney to her for the transplant. While Gomez seems healthy now, Raisa has told W Magazine that the singer in fact faced a life-threatening complication in the wake of the surgery.
According to Raisa, she and Gomez were living together when Gomez's lupus began getting worse. After undergoing some medical tests, Gomez learned that she needed a new kidney in order to survive. Unfortunately, the waiting list would have had her standing by for a new kidney for 10 years.
However, Raisa turned out to be a match for Gomez as a kidney donor. In the summer of 2017, the two underwent surgery for the transplant.
"Recovery was hard," said Raisa of the experience. "I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to drink anything. 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.' 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."
Even though the surgery both saved Gomez's life and put it in danger as well, the two decided not to go public about the procedure for some weeks. According to Raisa, she and Gomez also went through depression after the procedure, and both just wanted to recover physically and mentally in private.
However, the two eventually did go on NBC's "Today" show for an interview about the surgery.
Raisa also revealed that two weeks after the surgery, she had to go to an audition that would land her a role as Ana Torres in the ABC series "Grown-ish." According to the actress, she was in pain throughout the audition process, although she did not tell anyone that she had just come from surgery.
However, the actress is now doing much better healthwise and also looks forward to building a career as a producer.
