Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide, had developed renal failure after a car accident: Know why it happens

The death of 41 year old Virginia Giuffre has shocked the entire world. The mother of three had accused US financier Jeffrey Epstein of using her as a sex slave. She had also accused Britain's Prince Andrew of sexual abuse when she was 17, a minor as per the US law. According to Giuffre's family, she died at her farm in Western Australia. "She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking," her family said in a statement provided to AFP by her agent.

Giuffre's last post on social media was about a severe car crash. In a long post, Giuffre had mentioned how she narrowly escaped the accident and survived, but, with a life threatening renal condition. She had shared a picture of her with bruises. In 2023 she was hospitalized for a spinal surgery.

"This year has been the worst start to a new year, but I won’t bore anyone with the details but I think it important to note that when a school bus driver comes at you driving 110km as we were slowing for a turn that no matter what your car is made of it might as well be a tin can. I’ve gone into kidney renal failure , they’ve given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology," a part of her social media highlights about her medical condition.


Kidneys are very sensitive to changes in blood flow and pressure

Renal failure after a car accident is a serious and often overlooked consequence of physical trauma. While people typically associate car crash injuries with broken bones or head trauma, internal organ damage, especially to the kidneys, can be just as life-threatening. The kidneys are highly vascular organs, meaning they are rich in blood vessels and very sensitive to changes in blood flow and pressure. When an accident causes severe trauma, the kidneys can be directly injured or affected indirectly by systemic responses in the body.

One major cause of renal failure following a traumatic event like a car crash is rhabdomyolysis. This condition occurs when muscles are crushed or severely damaged, releasing a protein called myoglobin into the bloodstream. Myoglobin can clog the kidneys’ filtering system, causing acute kidney injury (AKI). In many high-impact accidents, even if external injuries seem minor, muscle damage can be significant enough to trigger rhabdomyolysis .

Another cause is hypovolemic shock, which is when the body loses a significant amount of blood due to internal or external bleeding. This reduces blood flow to vital organs, including the kidneys. Since the kidneys require a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood to function properly, even a short period of reduced blood flow can cause acute tubular necrosis—a condition where the kidney tissues start dying due to lack of oxygen. This can lead to temporary or permanent renal failure depending on the severity and duration of the shock.

Blunt force trauma directly to the lower back or abdominal area can also cause physical injury to the kidneys. This might result in bleeding, bruising, or even tearing of the kidney tissues. In some cases, the kidneys may develop blood clots or become swollen, which compromises their function.

After a traumatic accident, the body releases inflammatory chemicals in response to injury. While this is a natural protective mechanism, excessive inflammation can damage organs, including the kidneys. The immune response can become overactive, leading to what's called "multiple organ dysfunction syndrome" (MODS), where two or more organs, including the kidneys, start to fail.