Francia Raísa Clarifies Why She Donated Her Kidney to Selena Gomez
Francia Raísa made the brave decision to donate her kidney to her good pal Selena Gomez, and now, nearly six years later, the 35-year-old is opening up about the experience again.
The How I Met Your Father actress recently appeared on Josh Peck's Good Guys podcast, where she recalled how she felt before undergoing surgery and explained her reasoning for making the life-altering decision.
"That was the craziest part. I was so calm," Raísa said of the process leading up to the surgery. "I had this crazy calmness. It was wild. The tests were a lot, it was hard. But the entire time I was like, I feel like I have to do this. I just know it."
She continued, “I’ve said this before, I just felt it in my heart. I knew I was a match. I knew it was gonna happen. No one forced me to do anything. It came out of the genuine kindness of my heart.”
Earlier this year, Gomez, 31, spoke about how grateful she felt to have Raísa in her life, both as a friend and a kidney donor.
"My best friend, her name is Francia. She said, 'I'm absolutely getting tested [to see if she could donate her kidney]," Gomez recalled in March. "So within three days, she went to go do it, and she was a match."
The Only Murders in the Building star continued, "It was one of those moments where I felt watched over. I know I was so, so lucky. I understand that that doesn't happen for a lot of people, and I know the outcome of some of those situations and how serious they are."
"I will never, ever, ever be more in debt to a person than Francia. The idea of someone not even second-guessing to be a donor was unbelievably overwhelming," Gomez added.
While fans of the two actresses speculated whether or not there was a rift between the two, Gomez shut down any rumors she was beefing with Raísa in a sweet tribute she shared on Instagram for the Grown-ish alum's 35th birthday last month.