WARNING: The details in this story may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.
A former caregiver who was convicted of failing to provide the necessaries of life for a woman with Down syndrome in her care continued her testimony on Wednesday at the inquest into her death.
Florence Girard dropped from 100 to 50 pounds in the months before she died of starvation in October 2018.
Astrid Dahl, responsible for Girard’s care, testified that she fed Girard three to four bottles of meal replacements daily.
“That’s crazy, and she expects her to survive with these,” Girard’s sister, Sharon Bursey, told Global News on Wednesday.
“I’m assuming someone is supposed to live on this, and this alone.”
Dahl testified that on the advice of her mother, a former nurse from the U.K., she started giving Girard Ensure because she said Girard would refuse to eat solid foods.
“I don’t understand how somebody that’s supposed to be in a position of caring for another vulnerable human being can think that that’s OK,” Bursey said.
Florence Girard’s caregiver testifies at B.C. inquest
The inquest heard that Girard weighed about 100 pounds in the summer of 2018, which was about the time she started solely consuming Ensure.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
When Girard died that October, she weighed just 50.6 pounds, dying of malnutrition.
Girard had lived with Dahl for about eight years as a part of a residential home-sharing agreement, overseen by the non-profit Kinsight Community Society, which is a non-profit contracted by Community Living BC.
Dahl said Kinsight offered no guidance or support.
She said she was paid $2,000 a month to take care of Girard but Dahl said that was not enough and the home-share system needs an overhaul.
“There’s too much management and not enough skilled workers underneath,” she said. “Lots of pay raises for the people up top and not for the people underneath.”
Two Kinsight workers are scheduled to take the stand on Thursday where they will likely respond to Dahl’s allegations about the lack of guidance over Girard’s medical care, mobility issues and drastic weight loss.
Inquest hears troubling testimony in starving death of Florence Girard
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
