Actress Bijou Phillips has been surrounded by love and support from her “family of friends” as she fights against kidney disease.
Phillips’ longtime friend Kathy Hilton shared an update as the “Almost Famous” star awaits a kidney transplant.
Bijou Phillips Receives Support From Friends
Phillips revealed last month that she is in desperate need of a kidney transplant eight years after her first transplant.
“She was really afraid, and she was crying,” Hilton told Us Weekly on Wednesday, March 18. “She was afraid if she did the dialysis that she might not make it.”
The socialite explained that her husband, Richard Hilton, reached out to Phillips, encouraging her to continue treatment. Phillips shares 12-year-old daughter Fianna with ex-husband Danny Masterson.
“He got her on the phone, [and] he said, ‘Listen, you listen to the doctor … You have a young child,'” Hilton said. “She was like, ‘You’re right, you’re right.'”
According to Hilton, Phillips leans on a “big family of friends” to get through the difficult time.
“There are a lot of people that were there every minute with her,” she added.
Phillips opened up about her diagnosis in a heart-wrenching Instagram post on February 11, pleading with followers to get tested as a possible transplant match.
“I need help finding a kidney,” she wrote. “I’m asking as a friend, a sister, an aunt, and, more importantly, a single mother to an incredible and brave daughter. I am in need of a kidney”
She continued, “I was born with underdeveloped kidneys and spent the first three months of life in the NICU on dialysis. In 2017, I received the incredible gift of a kidney from a dear friend. That transplant gave me 8 precious years to be a mother to my daughter—but I have had many complications since, including the BK virus which led to both a cellular and antibody rejection.”
Hundreds Rushed to Help Bijou Phillips
Within days of her urgent plea, hundreds of potential kidney donors were tested in search of a match.
“Over 1,000 potential donors came forward Wednesday after news broke Bijou urgently needs a second kidney transplant,” TMZ reported on February 12. “It’s an incredible outpouring of support — but doctors haven’t found a match yet.”
Hilton shared that one of her daughter Nicky Hilton’s friends decided to get tested.
“She’s never met Bijou, but she still wants to continue on the journey,” Hilton said.
Phillips is “really grateful” for the onslaught of support after “almost 1,000 people signed up” to get tested, Hilton added.
“How unbelievable is that, and how great is that for the hospital,” she continued. “Not everybody will be a match, but these people are into it and want to stay on the list to help other people.”
