An 18-month-old boy pulled unresponsive from a family swimming pool in a Phoenix suburb on Feb. 8 was declared dead by a hospital physician, only to be found still breathing roughly five hours later in the hospital's refrigerated holding area, according to a police report. The child, discovered face down in the pool during a Super Bowl gathering at the home, was later airlifted to a second hospital, where he survived. The boy goes by the name Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino.
Gilbert police were called to the home at approximately 5:30 p.m. local time after the child was found in the water. First responders performed life-saving measures before transporting him to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m. by Dr. Aryan Toosi.
According to the police report, officers at the hospital told Toosi they believed they had observed signs of life. An officer described hearing an "audible gasp," which hospital staff attributed to agonal breathing, a reflexive gasping that can occur after death. That same account said the child's parents also believed he was still breathing, and that one officer recalled hearing a nurse say she had detected a pulse moments before the time of death was called.
Toosi reportedly responded to the officers' concerns by telling them to let him do his job, adding that he had gone to medical school for a reason. Body-camera footage captured Toosi asking whether there were objections before calling the time of death and observing a moment of silence; he requested an additional pulse check beforehand.
About five hours after the child was pronounced dead, a transporter from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office found him still breathing in the hospital's cold-storage room. He was then flown to a children's hospital, where he was treated and later discharged.
The circumstances preceding the incident are also under investigation. Police reportedly noted a strong odor of marijuana at the home and said the child may have gained unsupervised access to the pool through an unsecured garage door. Police have recommended negligence charges against the parents, though the Maricopa County Attorney's Office had not announced a charging decision as of the reports. The child's medical records were not included in the police report and were described as redacted, leaving parts of the hospital timeline unclear.
Mercy Gilbert Medical Center said it had conducted a thorough internal review "to learn what happened and to make meaningful changes to strengthen our care," calling the episode "a heartbreaking situation" while declining to provide further detail.
The child, referred to by one outlet as the "miracle baby," has since been the subject of a fundraiser established in February to help cover his recovery and medical costs. Through their attorney, the family has declined to comment publicly on the possibility of criminal proceedings against them.