Francia Raisa: 'Brutal recovery from kidney surgery was humbling'

Actress Francia Raisa found it "humbling" to constantly rely on the help of others during her "brutal" recovery process after donating a kidney to her best friend Selena Gomez.

The Bring It On: All or Nothing star offered to get tested as soon as she learned about the seriousness of Selena's health struggle, brought on by her battle with autoimmune disease lupus, and she proved to be a match.

They underwent kidney transplant surgery over the summer (17), with Selena only going public with the news in September.

The two pals recently sat down for a candid interview with breakfast show Today, which aired on Monday (30Oct17), and during the chat, Francia revealed her mother wasn't completely on board with her decision to go through such serious surgery.

"I had to write a will, which is scary, because there's no guarantee you'll wake up," Francia said, prompting Selena to recall, "Your family wasn't even sure (she should have the operation). When you told your mom, she was like, 'What are you doing?'"

Continuing the story, Francia shared, "My mom didn't wanna be there (in the hospital) until I woke up (after surgery). (But) she loves Selena, and so she was torn."

The Come and Get It hitmaker remained by Francia's side both before and after the life-changing operation, organizing a place for the girls to stay in with the aides they both required as they embarked on their journey to recovery.

"What I wanted, more than anything, is that we were together, so I actually got a space for us to be in together," Selena said, before revealing their post-surgery restrictions: "You're on bed rest, you're allowed to walk an hour a day, you can't do any stairs or anything crazy."

The limitations were particularly tough for Francia to get used to when it came to bathing and changing.

"It was hard because you constantly need to ask for help," she explained. "I think one of the more humbling experiences was needing help to put on underwear. We couldn't take showers by ourselves. It was a really brutal process."

Both stars have since bounced back from the kidney transplant surgery, which has ridden Selena of her arthritis, high blood pressure, and her lupus, which now only has a "three to five per cent chance" of returning, and she is hopeful that sharing their story will give others in similar circumstances optimism for their own futures.

"I just really hope that we can help somebody, I really do," expressed the 25-year-old as she fought back tears. "I don't think what we went through was easy, I don't think it was fun. I just hope that this inspires people to feel good, to know that there is (sic) really good people in the world."