Playboy model and Bachelor contestant Veronika Murashkin dies while waiting for lung transplant

Veronika Murashkina, 31, from Toguchin, Russia, spent years bedridden as doctors struggled to save a leg that was mangled in the car accident, and just as it appeared they had succeeded, she was struck by a lung disease where the only chance of survival was a transplant.

She was put on the urgent waiting list but died on Thursday, October 18 before it could happen.

The young woman became famous in 2017 when she took part in the fifth season of The Bachelor produced by Russian TV network TNT, where she fought for the heart of the popular actor Ilya Glinnikov. Veronika lived in the capital of Moscow where she got an economics education but later built a modelling career.

In the same year, 2017, Veronika's photo made it into the Playboy issue. She was photographed in an image with yellow bunny ears on her head, and graced the magazine's spread with a note about the past Playboy theme parties. In the summer of 2020, however, her glamorous life ended when she was involved in a terrible car accident.

She had travelled to her hometown of Toguchin to visit her mother and grandmother. But in August in the evening, she went for a walk along the street with childhood friends whom she had not seen for a long time. Suddenly, a car, driven by a drunk classmate, flew into the parking lot where the group was parked.

Veronika took the brunt of the blow and was critically injured. For many years, doctors did everything they could to save her leg, and she underwent a very long rehabilitation. She had to give up her modelling career and instead spent her time creating handcrafts.

A friend of hers told local media: "After the serious accident, her leg was literally put back together piece by piece. She was treated for a long time, stayed in clinics and recovered. It seemed that her troubles were finally in the past, but then a new one came when the lung disease hit her."

It is reported that as a result of her long time spent in bed, her immune system is weakened and she came down with the disease that was reportedly so serious she needed a lung transplant.

The friend added: "Veronika was on the waiting list for a transplant, but she did not live to see it. This bright person passed away tonight."

Story: NewsX