For Francia Raisa, donating her kidney to best friend Selena Gomez was an easy choice.
“Francia and Selena are like sisters. There’s a group of girls who have always stuck close to Selena,” a source close to the Bring It On actress, 29, tells Us Weekly exclusively. “Her inner circle is very tight and everyone protects Selena. Francia comes from a big family … Selena is like a sister to her. Selena didn’t ask Francia to be tested as a match — Francia is the kind of person who would offer to do that for any one of her friends.”
The “Bad Liar” singer, 25, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager star kept the procedure, which a source tells Us was done at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles in June, under wraps. “Francia told a few people in her inner circle that she was donating one of her kidneys, but no one knew who it was for,” the insider added. “A lot of people in their inner circle knew that Francia was undergoing surgery but really didn’t ask too many questions.”
As for her recovery, “Francia is totally fine now, she’s back to normal. Francia lives a very healthy lifestyle and she’s busy with work. The recovery time for her was very quick.”
Although pals close to the BFFs didn’t know many details about the surgery, they “aren’t shocked” that Francia was Gomez’s organ donor. That’s how close they are,” the pal continued. “They’ve always been very spiritual and into God, and even more so now. They both prayed a lot about this surgery and once Selena’s health issues got worse.”
A second source tells Us, ”They’ve thought of each other as sisters, and beyond their obvious bond through work and womanhood, they also share a lot through their faith and being Latina. Francia is incredibly supportive and would provide a shoulder to cry on for any friend in need. She really is a wonderfully special person.”
The “Fetish” songstress was diagnosed with Lupus in 2015 and has been battling the disease ever since. In May 2017, while in Chicago for boyfriend The Weeknd’s concert, the 13 Reasons Why producer was rushed to a hospital for kidney failure and her beau was by her side throughout the entire scare, TMZ reports. According to the outlet, at that point, Gomez was already on the kidney transplant list.
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