Selena Gomez’s kidney donor shares the unusual way she found out they were a match

Selena Gomez‘s kidney donor Francia Raisa has spoken about the surprising way she found out she was a match for Selena Gomez ahead of donating the vital organ to the singer back in 2017.

The pair’s friendship has been talked about recently after people noticed Raisa didn’t appear to be at Selena’s luxurious wedding to Benny Blanco at the end of September. Francia and Selena first became close in 2007, and when Selena’s lupus diagnosis led to serious health issues, Raisa didn’t hesitate to offer her kidney.

Credit: Instagram/@selenagomez

Naturally, after giving someone an actual organ, you might expect at least an invite to the after-party or a slice of cake. But amid all the talk about whether the two are still close, Raisa has opened up about the moment she learned she could safely donate her kidney to Selena.

Speaking in an interview with SELF, she explained: “There were times that I did panic. When I found out I was a match, it wasn’t the way I expected. I got a phone call from Selena, a FaceTime, and she’s like, ‘We’re a match!’ And I’m like, ‘Yay, how do you know this?’”

It turns out Selena found out before Francia did — which isn’t normally how the process works. Usually, doctors tell the donor first, but Selena wanted to surprise her friend with the news.

Despite years of rumours about tension between the two, Raisa has said she doesn’t regret her decision.

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“I know she’s getting married, and I’m very happy for her,” she said in a new interview. “She has a life, and she is already a billionaire, and I am grateful that I could do that for her.”

Credit: Instagram/@selenagomez

At the time of the transplant, none of Selena’s family members were a match, and with the average wait time for a kidney sitting at around 3.6 years, Raisa’s offer truly changed her life. At the time of Selena’s transplant, there were 100,791 people awaiting kidney transplants in the US alone.

The testing and screenings were fast-tracked into a single day instead of the usual six months, and on surgery day, the two even had their hair braided together before heading into the operating room. Although the transplant was initially successful, Selena later had to undergo a second six-hour surgery after complications arose.

Selena has previously said she’ll “never, ever be more in debt to a person than Francia,” describing her friend’s decision as “unbelievably overwhelming”.

And while people might still speculate about where their friendship stands, there’s no denying that Francia Raisa’s decision all those years ago was nothing short of life-saving.

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Featured image credit: Instagram/@selenagomez