Mum’s horror as toddler declared lifeless then discovered ‘breathing’ in morgue hours later

A mum says her 18-month-old son was wrongly declared dead after a pool accident, then heard ‘breathing’ as staff brushed it off as ‘normal’ before he was found alive in the morgue

A devastated mum has told how her family heard their 18-month-old son “breathing” after he was declared dead at a hospital. Staff were reportedly brushing it off as “normal” before the toddler was later found alive in a cold morgue nearly six hours on.

Vincent Fiordilino was rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center in Arizona, USA, after falling into his family’s backyard swimming pool during a Super Bowl party in February.

Police later alleged his parents were distracted and smoking marijuana, and initially recommended child abuse and negligence charges, but the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office ultimately declined to prosecute, finding no probable cause for any criminal conduct.

The family is now preparing a major medical negligence lawsuit, arguing the hospital declared Vincent dead “in error” and missed multiple signs of life. According to police investigations and hospital records, attending physician Dr Aryan Toosi stopped life-saving measures and pronounced Vincent dead at 6.20pm after just 18 minutes of resuscitation.

A police report alleges that as the doctor went to tell the parents, a nurse said: “I have a pulse.” When an officer flagged it, Dr Toosi allegedly insisted he was the doctor, had the medical degree and “went to medical school for a reason”, before ordering efforts to stop, Law and Crime reported.

Vincent’s mum Alexus said she and his grandmother also noticed worrying signs that were dismissed. “My mother-in-law is there, and she goes over, and she hugs him,” Alexus Fiordilino told local ABC affiliate KNXV.

“And she’s like, ‘Hey. It sounds like he’s breathing.’

“And I was like, what? They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s normal’.

“It’s normal that it’s gonna sound like that, but that’s normal,’” she recalled. Body camera records reportedly show two Gilbert police officers also noted signs of life, including audible gasps for air, even after Vincent was moved. Staff allegedly told them it was “agonal breathing”, while a nurse suggested it could be residual trauma from CPR.

The family’s lawyer John Brewer said a review of medical records shows the doctor cited blood test results to justify stopping care, but the logs indicate the results were not final until 18 minutes after Vincent was pronounced dead. Alexus recalled the doctor telling her: “Yeah, so his pH levels are too high.

“They’re too acidic. So even if we are to bring him back, it wouldn’t be a good form of life… I think it’s best that I call the time for it.”

Police say Vincent was moved to the morgue at about 7.23pm. At 11.52pm a worker from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office arrived to collect the body and discovered the toddler was still alive and breathing.

Alexus said he was “alone for five and a half hours” in the morgue. Vincent was airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Early scans suggested severe brain trauma and failing organs, but his family say later tests indicated he avoided catastrophic brain damage. He is now back home with severe hypoxic brain injury, needing lifelong monitoring and intensive physical therapy.

“There’s no, like, happy ending,” Alexus said. A GoFundMe describes Vincent as a “miracle baby”, saying he was underwater for five minutes, and claims the family received a late-night call that “the medical examiner had detected a faint heartbeat”.

Mercy Gilbert Medical Center said: “This is a heartbreaking situation… Patient safety and exceptional care are our highest priorities.”

Police say there was no probable cause to charge the doctor or hospital staff, and the medical aspect has been referred to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for independent review.

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