Bijou Phillips undergoes life-saving kidney transplant
Bijou Phillips underwent a life-saving kidney transplant five months after she was hospitalized and placed on dialysis while waiting for a donor.
“I am beyond beyond grateful to everyone who rushed into help me, get checked to donate, you are all hero’s [sic]!” she captioned a post on Instagram Tuesday.
“My wonderful brother [Aron Wilson] donated in the kidney exchange! He saved a life, and the life he saved had a special person donate for them,” the “Havoc” actress added.
“And then a few weeks later, the voucher program found me a perfect match! So close it’s like I got the kidney from one of my parents!”
Phillips, 46, then praised her doctor for his amazing “surgical skills” with her transplant.
“I am so blow [sic] away by Dr Veale and the magic he does! The kidney exchange, voucher program, and his surgical skills!!! He only cut the facia! He didn’t cut the muscles so I didn’t even really need much pain medication at all, just Tylenol!” she raved.
“I feel at five days out like I did four months after my last surgery! The technique he developed is brilliant and he is a lifesaver!” Phillips added.
“Thank you UCLA! And all the amazing drs and coordinators and nurses and everybody there has been so wonderful and amazing. Thank you so much!!!! @uclahealth love you Aron! Thank you the most! 🥰🙏🏼.”
In the post, Phillips shared a selfie of herself in the hospital with Wilson and a video of her walking out of the hospital as a nurse pushed a wheelchair full of flowers in front of her.
The model’s comment section was filled with positive messages from her famous friends.
“So happy for you🥹 Love you so much sis🥰,” wrote Paris Hilton.
“❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️,” added Bettina Anderson.
“So happy for you. 💘 What an incredible gift. 🙏🥰,” commented Nicky Hilton.
In February, Phillips’ rep revealed that she was hospitalized at CORE Kidney at UCLA Health and receiving dialysis.
The “Hostel: Part II” star — who was born with underdeveloped kidneys — first received a kidney transplant from a friend in 2017; however, that kidney had failed and she needed another one.
Phillips’ friends and relatives were not a match for her, and there were “no prospective donors” at that time, Us Weekly reported.
However, the socialite and her loved ones were “optimistic” about finding a match in the next “couple of months.”
A few weeks later, Phillips revealed that she was “hanging on by a thread” as the search for a kidney donor became more dire.
The “Raising Hope” alum explained that she was “fighting” to stay alive so that she could be here for her 12-year-old daughter, Fianna, whom she shares with her ex-husband, Danny Masterson.
Phillips filed for divorce from the “That ’70s Show” alum, 50, in September 2023, weeks after he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women.
