Selena Gomez was feeling grateful on Thursday when she saluted her good friend Francia Raisa on Twitter for donating a kidney to her.
The 28-year-old singer was movie to serenade her friend after Francia shared a hospital-room photo from when she donated a kidney to Selena in 2017.
The 32-year-old Grown-ish actress took the opportunity to remind her 209K followers about her sacrifice while helping to raise awareness about kidney diseases.
Bonded forever: Selena Gomez, 28, said she was ‘forever grateful’ to her friend Francia Raisa after the 32-year-old Grown-ish actress tweeted about donating a kidney to the singer on Thursday
Francia shared a photo of herself smiling from a hospital bed, which appeared to have been taken shortly after she donated her kidney.
‘If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’ve kept my kidney donation process pretty private,’ the TV star began her tweet thread.
‘However, I think I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I feel comfortable and confident in speaking about my experience, and using my platform to raise awareness for the various kidney diseases that affect our population.
‘While I wasn’t affected personally by kidney disease, I’ve seen the impacts of it firsthand and want to do my part to help educate others on it. So in honor of World Kidney Day, let’s talk about the impact of kidney disease and how we can work to ensure those living with kidney disease are living well,’ she continued.
Besties: ‘Thank you for blessing me. I am forever grateful to you,’ Selena wrote while quoting Francia’s post; pictured together in 2017 in LA
Education: Francia didn’t have much to say about her own experiences, but she directed her followers to the World Kidney Day global campaign for information about kidney diseases
Francia concluded by sharing a link to World Kidney Day‘s global campaign, which included information about moving away from a ‘disease-centric approach’ to treating kidney diseases and how to help those affected ‘live well’ with their chronic conditions.
Selena later quoted the tweeted with her thanks.
‘Thank you for blessing me. I am forever grateful to you,’ she wrote.
The songstress’ 2017 kidney transplant from Francia was necessitated by her Lupus, an autoimmune disorder that causes the body’s natural immune defenses to attack healthy tissue.
The Spring Breakers star later shared a photo of herself and Francia in hospital beds after the successful transplant.
‘There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa,’ she wrote at the time. ‘She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis.’
Sweet: Selena shared a photo of the two in the hospital in 2017 after the donation. ‘There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa,’ she wrote at the time
New ink: She revealed a tattoo she got of the transplant date on her arm in her 2020 video for rare. Francia also has a matching tattoo
In January of 2020, Selena revealed a tattoo she got of the date of her transplant in the music video for her single Rare, while Francia got matching ink.
‘I actually got the date of when I got my kidney transplant and I did that with the girl who gave me the kidney,’ she told Capital FM in December 2019.
Back in November 2020, Francia spoke out in response to her and Selena’s fans’ outrage over the rebooted Saved By The Bell series, which featured a joke about the kidney transplant.
In the sixth episode, two minor characters argue over Selena’s transplant.
‘I know for a fact that Selena Gomez’s kidney donor was Justin Bieber’s mom,’ one states. ‘God I wish that I had my phone so I could prove it.’
The other character replies, ‘Prove what? That you’re an idiot. It was Demi Lovato’s kidney. They’re best friends… like you and I were.’
Later in the episode, two main characters are seen standing in front of a wall with ‘Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?’ painted on it.
Having a laugh: Back in November 2020, Francia spoke out in response to her and Selena’s fans’ outrage over the rebooted Saved By The Bell series, which featured a joke about the kidney transplant
‘Some of the cast and producers have reached out to me personally to apologize for this and I truly appreciate that,’ Francia wrote in her Instagram Stories at the time.
‘But I do want to acknowledge that this public apology from the network should acknowledge the donors that could have been offended by this. It’s not about me, it’s about acknowledging the great role that donors play,’ she added, while tagging NBC and its streaming service Peacock.
She also confirmed that she had received the apology on Twitter the same day.
‘Appreciate the apology but let’s not forget about the donors that potentially felt offended and dismissed from the spray paint written on the wall,’ she wrote.
The series later edited out the jokes, though Selena never publicly weighed in.
Looking out for others: Francia got an apology from producers, but she spoke out on social media about offended kidney disease sufferers; seen in January 2020 in LA
Mum’s the word: The series later edited out the jokes, though Selena never publicly weighed in; seen on March 10 in NYC