Selena Gomez [1] was diagnosed with lupus about five years ago [2], and ever since, she's spoken openly about her journey living with the autoimmune disease [3]. The 25-year-old attended the Lupus Research Alliance's Break Through Gala [4] and took the stage to talk about the moment her doctors told her she might need a kidney transplant one day and how their diagnosis eventually became a reality.

"Maybe I wasn't necessarily really good at knowing what that meant, so it actually got to a point where it was life or death," she said. "Thankfully, one of my best friends gave me her kidney and it was the ultimate gift of life. And I am doing quite well."

In September, Selena revealed that she had a kidney transplant [5] due to her lupus, after spending months out of the spotlight to recover. During her speech at the gala, Selena spoke about how hopeful she is that a cure will be found for lupus. "I'd like to see the day when all young women can realize their dreams of life without a lupus . . . So that none of us are alone, especially the young women that I have grown up with and heard many, many stories," she said. "I just want to say thank you and I hope we can do something for all the younger people who need to know what this means."