Lupus has a new poster child — Selena Gomez. The 25-year-old former child star found a friend to donate a kidney to help fight the effects of the autoimmune disease.

“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 said on Instagram. “So I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering.”

The donor was Francia Raisa, born and raised in Los Angeles and a former cheerleader at Bishop Alemany High School, according to Wikipedia.

Gomez didn’t say when the transplant took place or her current condition.

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. 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. I honestly look forward to sharing with you, soon my journey through these past several months as I have always wanted to do with you. Until then I want to publicly thank my family and incredible team of doctors for everything they have done for me prior to and post-surgery. And finally, 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. Lupus continues to be very misunderstood but progress is being made. For more information regarding Lupus please go to the Lupus Research Alliance website: www.lupusresearch.org/ -by grace through faith

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E Online picks up the story: “The singer admitted ‘there aren’t enough words’ to properly thank her ‘beautiful friend,’ 29-year-old ‘Secret Life of the American Teenager’ star 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,” Gomez wrote. “Lupus continues to be very misunderstood, but progress is being made.”

The New York Daily News said the kidney transplant is drawing new attention to the donation process.

“There are currently 123,000 people in the U.S. on the wait list for a new kidney,” the paper said. “This could be for a myriad number of reasons like complications from diabetes or high blood pressure, severe kidney stones or diseases that lead to kidney failure like Lupus, according to the National Kidney Foundation.”

Dr. Robert Montgomery was quoted as saying: “This number (of kidney recipients) is so low because that’s how many kidneys are available from people who have died.”

Billboard said Raisa and Gomez met a decade ago when Disney and ABC had then-Disney stars visit the Children’s Hospital. Despite their five-year age difference, Raisa said in an interview with Latina that ‘Selena and I were in the same group and we just clicked.’”

Raisa told Wetpaint in 2012: “She’s my sister and she is one of the sweetest girls I know. She is so caring and so loving and so nurturing. She’s awesome. I don’t know where she came from.”

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