An Arizona mother is speaking publicly for the first time about the harrowing night she said goodbye to her 18-month-old son, only to learn hours later that he was still alive inside a hospital morgue.
Alexus Fiordilino, 30, said she believed she felt her son Vincent breathing when she embraced him after doctors pronounced him dead on Super Bowl Sunday in February. She said the attending physician told her those were simply the boy’s final involuntary breaths and that continuing resuscitation efforts would only extend his suffering.
Vincent had been rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center in Gilbert, Arizona, after being found face down and unresponsive in the family’s swimming pool. Dr. Aryan Toosi officially pronounced the toddler dead at 6:20 p.m. and called for a moment of silence.
More than five hours later, a medical examiner’s employee who arrived to collect Vincent’s body discovered the child was still breathing. Police immediately informed the parents, who were being questioned at the time.
“My husband and I just screamed in relief” Fiordilino said. “To go from hearing he was gone and then finding out he isn’t gone, it’s an unexplainable feeling.”
Police reports reveal that multiple officers and a detective also observed what appeared to be gasping from the child both before and after he was moved to the hospital’s cold storage room. Medical staff repeatedly attributed the movements to agonal breathing caused by prior compressions and family contact.
The family’s attorney, John Brewer, said he plans to file a formal complaint this week against Toosi and the hospital. Brewer claims a review of Vincent’s medical records shows that key test results Toosi cited when recommending the family end life-saving efforts had not yet been completed at the time of that conversation.
“The parents were faced with having to decide whether to keep trying to revive their son, and the doctor provided them with false information” Brewer said. “That’s beyond a conscious disregard for human life.”
Toosi’s attorney released a statement saying the doctor’s commitment has always been rooted in providing healing and comfort to his community. The hospital described the situation as heartbreaking but declined to comment on specifics, citing patient privacy.
Gilbert police forwarded the family’s attorney’s records to the state attorney general’s office, which said Wednesday it has not yet decided whether to formally review the case.
Vincent was airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital following his discovery and is now home with his family. His attorney says the boy suffers from severe brain injuries and cannot swallow, sit up on his own, or crawl.