An 18-month-old boy was discovered alive in a hospital cold room five hours after a doctor pronounced him dead, a police report has revealed. The toddler, named locally as Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino and now nicknamed the ‘Miracle baby’, had been pulled from a swimming pool in Gilbert, Arizona, during a Super Bowl gathering on 8 February.
First responders performed life-saving measures before Vincent was rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where Dr Aryan Toosi declared time of death at 18:20. But family members, two police officers and a nurse had all insisted they saw signs of life. According to the police report, officers told Toosi they had seen signs of life. The doctor responded: “Please do your thing and let me do my thing. I went to medical school for a reason.”
“Toddler Vincent Fiordilino, 18 months, found alive in hospital morgue five hours after being declared dead from drowning.”
Bodycam footage captured the moment Toosi said: “If there’s no objections, I’d like to call time of death. Time of death 18:20. Moment of silence.” The police report notes that just before he was declared dead, an officer heard a nurse say “I have a pulse”. When the officer informed the medic, Toosi allegedly “arrogantly” replied that he was the doctor and to let him do his thing. The parents said they believed their son was still breathing “based on the appearance of him gasping for air”. Officers who reported hearing an “audible gasp” were told it was “agonal breathing” as gases left the body.
At 23:52, a transporter from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office arrived at the hospital to collect the body and found Vincent still breathing. He was airlifted to a children’s hospital, where he recovered and has since been released. A fundraiser started in February said he faced a long road with ICU, MRIs, organ support and therapy.
The medical records for the child were redacted from the police report, leaving uncertainty over what happened inside the hospital. Mercy Gilbert Medical Center said it conducted “a thorough review of all aspects of the care provided” and called it “a heartbreaking situation”, but declined further comment. Toosi’s attorney, Scott Holden, told the BBC: “Out of courtesy to the family and patient confidentiality, we respectfully decline to make a statement at this time.” The doctor has since apologised for his behaviour, according to the police report.
Police are recommending negligence charges against the parents. Investigators said there was a strong smell of marijuana at the home, leading them to believe the child may have had unsupervised access to the pool. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has not yet decided whether to press charges.
The case raises serious questions about how a child could be declared dead while still breathing, and what measures the hospital has taken to ensure it never happens again.