Five months after making a public plea for a kidney donor, Bijou Phillips is recovering from a second transplant and praising the brother who helped save her life. The “Havoc” actress, 46, shared the emotional update on Instagram Tuesday, revealing she had undergone a successful kidney transplant at UCLA Health after months on dialysis.
The carousel of Instagram photos included a smiling selfie with her brother, who donated his kidney, and a video of Phillips walking out of the hospital, with a nurse following behind carrying a cart filled with flowers. “I am beyond beyond grateful to everyone who rushed into help me, get checked to donate, you are all hero’s [sic]!” she wrote.
How Bijou Phillips Finally Found Her Match
Getting here took years and two transplants. Phillips was born with underdeveloped kidneys and first received a donated kidney from a friend in 2017, but her body eventually rejected it, landing her back on dialysis and the waiting list.
Her brother, Aron Wilson, found a way in through a kidney exchange program, donating on her behalf and setting off a chain reaction that circled back to her.
“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,” she wrote. “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!”
Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton Lead the Well-Wishes
GettyPhillips was quickly met with love from friends and family in the comments. Paris Hilton wrote, “So happy for you🥹 Love you so much sis🥰,” while her sister Nicky Hilton added, “So happy for you. 💘 What an incredible gift. 🙏🥰”
Phillips also praised her surgeon, crediting him with helping make her recovery far easier than expected.
“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 wrote.
“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!”
She ended her post by thanking the UCLA Health team and everyone involved in her care.
“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! 🥰🙏🏼”
What Bijou Phillips Said When She Was ‘Hanging on by a Thread’
Just months ago, the outcome looked far less certain. In February, Phillips’ rep confirmed she had been admitted to UCLA’s CORE Kidney unit and started on dialysis, with no compatible donor identified. Speaking with Us Weekly in February, Phillips was direct about what was keeping her going.
“Now I’m a single mom and things are different. I want to be here for her, and I have to be here for her. The fight is back. That had been gone for a long time. I’m it. I’m all she’s got,” she said of her daughter, Fianna, 12.
GettyShe also drew a clear line between this search and her first transplant in 2017. “Before the first transplant, I went through a dark night of the soul. You get to this point where you have to be OK with your life and think, ‘You know what? I’m proud of myself. I’ve checked all the boxes I wanted to check. I feel confident leaving,'” she told the outlet.
“[Last time,] I was married and able to let go and be at peace with it. It’s sort of the death of the ego because there’s this part of you that wants to keep going and make another movie and make another album and fight, fight, fight.”
Fianna’s father is Danny Masterson, the “That ’70s Show” alum sentenced to 30 years to life in September 2023 following a sexual assault conviction. Masterson maintained his innocence throughout his trial. Phillips filed for divorce weeks after sentencing.
