Bride-to-Be Kirsty Earnshaw, 37, Found Dead in St. Lucia Pool During ‘Relaxing’ Two-Week Pre-Wedding Holiday

A bride-to-be was tragically found floating face down in a hotel swimming pool by her mother during a holiday in St. Lucia, where she had travelled to celebrate her upcoming wedding.

Kirsty Earnshaw, 37, was vacationing with her mother, Lynn, for two weeks before her wedding in the United States.

Kirsty Earnshaw was found floating face down in a swimming pool by her mum during a holiday to celebrate her upcoming wedding credit: Facebook/KirstyEarnshaw.

Kirsty’s dreams of marriage were cut short when her mother discovered her lifeless body in the water.

The incident prompted an inquest at Taunton Coroner’s Court, where senior coroner Samantha Marsh expressed her frustration over the scant evidence provided by authorities in St. Lucia after three years of requests for information.

Efforts to pinpoint her cause of death were hampered by ‘scant’ evidence provided by St Lucia health authorities. Credit: Facebook/Kirsty Earnshaw.

British officials had sought a toxicology report, which was never delivered, complicating inquiries into Kirsty’s death. During the hearing, Lynn described her daughter as “generous and loving,” emphasising that she was “loved by everybody.”

An inquest heard that Kirtsy had been drinking that day, but she remained lucidCredit: Facebook/KirstyEarnshaw.

She recounted how the trip was meant to be a halfway stop before Kirsty’s wedding. The pair spent August 3, 2021, by the pool, enjoying books, swimming, and drinks.

Despite their drinking, Lynn asserted that Kirsty was aware of her surroundings and did not complain of any pain during the holiday. At around 6 p.m. that day, after briefly stepping away from the pool, a hotel patron alerted Lynn to “something floating in the pool.”

Realising it was Kirsty, she quickly called for an ambulance and accompanied her to a local clinic, where she was pronounced dead, with drowning listed as the cause of death.

Lynn testified that Kirsty was a strong swimmer and had not been using any illegal drugs during their trip. Evidence presented by Kirsty’s GP practice revealed that she had reported drinking 31 units of alcohol a week upon joining the surgery in 2012. This amount reportedly increased to 50 units weekly—equivalent to about four pints of cider a day—but her family noted she had been working to reduce her alcohol intake and had abstained from drinking altogether for periods leading up to her trip.

Following Kirsty’s return to the UK, doctors examined her body, but the toxicology report was compromised due to the embalming process. A second post-mortem at Yeovil District Hospital found no external injuries but suggested Kirsty might have had an abnormality in her heart conduction system, which regulates heart contractions through electrical signals.

A post-mortem suggested Kirsty may have suffered from an abnormality in her heart conduction system. Credit: Facebook/KirstyEarnshaw.

Dr. Edwin Cooper, who conducted the examination, recommended that family members undergo screening with a cardiologist to check for potential inherited abnormalities.

Kirsty’s father, present at the court, described his daughter as “quite the character” and “extremely hard-working” in her successful career as a chef. He also raised concerns about the Pfizer Covid vaccination Kirsty received just two weeks before her death. Still, Mrs Marsh stated there was “no evidence to suggest any link” between the vaccine and the circumstances surrounding Kirsty’s drowning.

In her concluding remarks, Mrs Marsh voiced her frustration over the lack of evidence gathered from St. Lucia. She noted that efforts to obtain meaningful information continued up to 48 hours before the hearing. “Regrettably, in three years of trying, that represents the totality of everything we have managed to obtain,” she stated. “I can only go where the evidence takes me. The difficulty is, in this case, it doesn’t take me very far.”

However, a toxicology report was said to be compromised by the embalming process. Credit: Facebook/KirstyEarnshaw.

Reflecting on the tragic events of August 3, 2021, Mrs Marsh noted, “This should have been an enjoyable mother-daughter experience relaxing in the sunshine. But very sadly, events took a twist, and on August 3, 2021, Kirsty was discovered face down in the swimming pool.”

Kirsty was a successful head chefCredit: Facebook/KirstyEarnshaw

Arriving at her conclusion, Mrs Marsh acknowledged that the evidence did not fully support any definitive conclusion. “I simply do not know what part, if any, alcohol has played. All I can say is she got into difficulty in the water for reasons unknown.”

Kirsty had a successful career as a head chef, known for her expertise in French cuisine. In 2010, she was featured in a magazine after becoming head chef at the Five Dials Inn in Somerset. Later, she worked at the upscale Dinnington Docks, which was previously showcased on Channel 4’s ‘Time Team’.

Her family remembers her as loving and generous. Credit: Facebook/Kirsty Earnshaw.

Paying tribute to Kirsty on social media, her former employer said, “Kirsty was our chef, your chef… she was our friend and yours… Kirsty was very much part of all our lives.”

Concluding the inquest, Mrs Marsh apologised to the Earnshaw family for the lack of substantial evidence. Still, she stated that it was in the interest of justice that the hearing not be delayed any further.