An 18-month-old boy who fell into his family's swimming pool was wrongly pronounced dead and zipped into a body bag, only to be found alive nearly six hours later in a hospital morgue.
Incident Details
Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino slipped into the backyard pool at his home in Gilbert, Arizona, USA, on February 8. After frantic emergency calls, his father pulled him from the water and began CPR as paramedics rushed him to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center.
Despite resuscitation efforts, the child was pronounced dead by Dr Aryan Toosi at 6.20pm, according to newly released documents and emergency audio made public this month.
Discovery in the Morgue
Vincent was then placed in a body bag and transferred to the hospital morgue. Nearly six hours later, at around 11.45pm, a Maricopa County Medical Examiner's transporter arrived to collect the body, as reported by 12 News. When the transporter opened the bag to move him, they noticed the toddler was still breathing.
Vincent was reportedly rushed back for emergency treatment and then airlifted to Phoenix Children's Hospital. The newly unsealed police records allege multiple warnings were raised and ignored before the toddler was sent to the morgue.
Warnings Ignored
A registered nurse at the hospital reportedly told Dr Toosi she could feel a pulse, according to ABC 15 Arizona. Officers at the scene also claim they flagged alarming signs, saying they saw Vincent moving and heard him gasping or releasing air.
But according to the police documents, Dr Toosi dismissed those concerns, describing the gasps as “agonal breathing”, which are reflexive breaths that can occur after death, and ordered that the child be taken to the morgue anyway.
Outcome and Impact
Vincent survived the ordeal, but his family says the outcome has been devastating. The child reportedly suffered severe and permanent brain damage, believed to have been caused by prolonged oxygen deprivation, with the added horror of spending hours in a cold morgue while still alive, as reported by the Daily Mail.
He is expected to need intensive, lifelong care, and his family has launched a GoFundMe appeal to help with what they describe as astronomical medical costs.
Hospital Response
Dignity Health Mercy Gilbert Medical Center confirmed it had launched a “thorough internal review” into how the failure occurred, according to ABC 15 Arizona. However, the hospital has reportedly not said whether Dr Toosi has been suspended, dismissed, or is still working at the facility, citing patient privacy.
