An Arizona mother is speaking out after her toddler was pronounced dead following a near-drowning—only for hospital staff to discover hours later that he was still alive in the morgue.
Alexus Fiordilino told ABC 15 during an interview Monday that Feb. 8 was the worst day of her life. She had found her 18-month-old son, Vincent, floating face down in the family’s pool at their home in Gilbert, Arizona.
“I had to say goodbye,” she said. “Do you know how hard that is?”
About five hours after Vincent was found, he was pronounced dead. He was later discovered alive in the morgue when a medical examiner’s transport team arrived at the hospital.
“He ended up in the morgue,” Alexus told the outlet.
“He was alone.”
ABC reported that Vincent suffered severe brain damage and will need assistance for the rest of his life.
After Vincent was brought to the emergency room, Fiordilino said doctors warned her that even if he could be resuscitated, his life would never return to normal.
She said Dr. Aryan Toosi returned several minutes later and told her, “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,” the doctor reportedly said.
“He’d be suffering. So I think it’s best that I call the time for it.”
Fiordilino recalled that Vincent felt ice-cold as doctors worked to save him.
“He was so cold,” she said.
“I remember feeling him and being like, ‘He’s so cold.’”
Fiordilino said Vincent was initially breathing in the hospital room before he was mistakenly pronounced dead. Hospital staff reportedly dismissed the sounds as agonal breathing.
According to Fiordilino, her mother-in-law was the first to notice signs that the toddler was still alive.
“She’s like, ‘Hey, it sounds like he’s breathing.’ And I’m like, ‘What?’” Fiordilino told ABC 15.
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She recalled that hospital staff told her the breathing sounds were normal and resulted from Vincent’s deoxygenated brain stem.
A police report obtained by the Daily Mail allegedly states that an officer heard a nurse say, “I have a pulse.” Other staff members then reportedly rushed to assist her as she attempted to revive Vincent.
According to the police report, when the officer told Fiordilino that her son had a pulse, Dr. Toosi dismissed the information, saying he was the doctor, had a medical degree and had gone to medical school for a reason—so the officer should let him do his job.
Six minutes later, Vincent was declared dead.
The cop noted Vincent’s “stomach and chest area was rising and falling” and that she “observed what appeared to be another audible gasp.”
“I again observed what appeared to be a gasp or air release, which was now almost an hour later,” she said, according to the Daily Mail.
After the horrific blunder came to light, Dr. Toosi’s team rushed the boy via emergency airlift to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Doctors later determined the child suffered severe brain damage that will leave him cognitively impaired for life.
“He was alone,” said Alexus.
“He was alone for five-and-a-half hours. How do you do that to a baby?”
A representative for Dignity Health told ABC that “out of respect for the patient’s privacy, we cannot share any information and we are unable to comment on those involved in patient care.”
“Patient Safety and exceptional care are our highest priorities.”
A lawyer for Dr. Toosi told the Daily Mail that “his commitment to delivering high-quality care has always been rooted in a desire to provide healing, safety and comfort to his community.”
“Due to pending litigation and privacy laws, we cannot speak to the details of the care provided at this time.”
Gilbert Police Sgt. Jordan Tuckenbrod told the Daily Mail that “the facts gathered in our investigation, combined with all facts known at this time, did not establish probable cause for any criminal conduct involving medical personnel.”
“As a result, no charges were forwarded against those involved.”
“This case is now in the process of being referred to the Attorney General’s Office for their review,” he added.
“We do not have an estimated timeline for when their review would be completed.”
