A terrified family dialed 911 after finding their toddler submerged in a backyard pool — in a case that later took an extraordinary turn when the child reportedly showed signs of life in a hospital morgue.
Two emergency calls were placed just moments apart on Super Bowl Sunday as the child’s parents and relatives desperately tried to save 18-month-old Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino.
Audio from the distressing calls, along with related police records, was obtained by the California Post.
In the recordings, dispatchers can be heard guiding the panicked family through chest compressions after answering the calls.
“I just found my nephew in the pool,” one shaken caller, who identified the toddler as his nephew, tells the operator.
According to records, the temperature of the family’s pool was measured at about 57 degrees Fahrenheit around the time of the incident.
The dispatcher then asks whether the young child was breathing.
“We’re not sure,” the caller replied.
In another 911 call made from the same address, screams from multiple people can be heard as the 911 operator struggled to figure out what was happening.
“I’m calling, I’m calling,” a female is heard yelling. “I need an ambulance,” the person breathlessly says.
The operator took their address down before the person described what happened. “My nephew, my nephew was in a fall in the pool,” she said.
She also said the family was trying to do CPR on the tot. His aunt said she did not know how long he was in the pool for.
The operator asked her for information such as the toddler’s weight and if a gate code was necessary. At one point, she even said the toddler was “starting to respond.”
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Officers arrive at the scene as the call ends after five minutes and 51 seconds. The second call ended just after four minutes.
The toddler was rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, but was declared dead. Police records revealed officers observed Fiordilino showed signs of life before a doctor declared him dead.
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“[The doctor] arrogantly told me he was the doctor, he has the medical degree, he went to medical school for a reason, and to let him do his thing,” a police report said. The officer had also heard a nurse say the toddler had a pulse.
But hours after his alleged demise, a medical examiner arriving to take his body from the morgue discovered a faint heartbeat, and he was rapidly airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital for treatment.
His family said in a GoFundMe that his initial diagnosis on Feb. 9 was very dire. His organs were shutting down, and doctors said he had brain damage.
But several days later, an MRI showed the tot had no brain damage and just a minor brain bruise that his growing brain is expected to compensate for.
“Despite this miracle, Vincent still faces a long and challenging recovery. He will need extensive therapy, ongoing medical monitoring, and support for his healing organs,” the family said.
The Feb. 14 update said the toddler was breathing with the assistance of a ventilator, and doctors are taking things slowly with him. Medical staff called him a “miracle baby.”
But the care has been extremely expensive, the family said.
“The Fiordilino family is overwhelmed with gratitude—but also with medical expenses that are far beyond what they can manage alone.
“Between emergency care, air transport, ICU treatment, MRIs, organ support, and the long-term therapy ahead, the financial burden is immense,” the family said.
They asked for $16,000 in donations, of which about $14,000 had been raised as of Friday.
But the family is under legal scrutiny.
Police have recommended charges against Fiordilino’s parents after a toxicology report showed they tested positive for THC.
Cops who showed up at the residence wrote in police records that they smelled a “strong odor” of marijuana from the residence’s garage.
An investigator said in a probable cause document that the drug use left the doors open for a “problematic and dangerous situation” to charge them with negligent homicide.
The Gilbert Police Department told The California Post that they were recommending one felony charge of child abuse to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
“Gilbert PD detectives conducted a thorough investigation regarding the circumstances surrounding this incident,” the department wrote.
“Based on the facts of this investigation, one charge of A.R.S. 13-3623(A)(3), Child or vulnerable adult abuse, was recommended to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for both the mother and father of the victim.”
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office told The Post it received the recommendation on June 3 and is currently reviewing it. No charging decision has been made, they said.
