Selena Gomez is the world's most popular person on Instagram with a whopping 128 million followers. The 25-year-old rose to fame through several different acting roles on the Disney channel, after which the modern-day Disney princess went on to star in films like Spring Breakers and release her own music.
But in 2015, she shocked fans when canceling a tour in order to go to rehab to undergo treatment for what she revealed was a diagnosis of the auto-immune disease, lupus. And just last month, she gave her 128 million followers another scare when uploading a picture of herself in hospital, revealing that she'd had a kidney transplant earlier this year.
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"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," Gomez wrote in the caption, "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."
Gomez shared a picture of the sizeable scar after the operation:
Gomez suffers from the incurable illness, which can affect any part of the body. Lupus causes a person's immune system to become hyperactive and attack normal, healthy tissue, which can irreversibly damage important organs, such as the kidney.
In the post, Gomez extends a huge thank you to her friend Francia Raisa, who donated her kidney for the transplant: "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."
29-year-old Raisa, who is also an actress, posted the same post-surgery image with her own message.
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"I am beyond grateful that God would trust me with something that not only saved a life, but changed mine in the process," she wrote, "This was part of our story, and we will share it soon, but what is important now is that this is not the only story."
And now Raisa – who is most known for her role in The Secret Life of the American Teenager – has bared her own scars after the surgery. The best place to do it? The red carpet, of course.
Raisa shows off a smaller scar compared to Gomez, flaunting it under a sheer mesh shirt worn under a white suit embellished with beads. She was attending People's One's to Watch party and posed for photographers on the red carpet.
Here it is zoomed in:
While she also kept a low profile since the operation in order to recover, the starlet seemed to be feeling well enough to commandeer the microphone in her limo for an impromptu karaoke party on the way to the event.
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Well, a successful kidney transplant made possible by the incredible generosity of a friend certainly is something to sing about. Keep singing girl, you deserve it.
