See more of our coverage in your search results.
An Arizona mom has spoken out about the horror of having her toddler pronounced dead, only to learn he was still alive inside a hospital morgue hours after she was forced to bid him a premature farewell.
Alexus Fiordilino told ABC 15 in a sit-down interview on Monday that Feb. 8 was the worst day of her life after finding her 18-month-old boy, Vincent, floating face down in the pool at her Gilbert, Ariz., home.
“I had to say goodbye,” she said, adding “do you know how hard that is?”
Five hours after he was found, the tot was pronounced dead — only to be discovered alive in the morgue when a medical examiner’s transport arrived at the hospital.
“He ended up in the morgue,” Alexus told the outlet.
“He was alone.”
He suffered serious brain damage and will require assistance for the rest of his life, ABC reported.
When her son arrived at the emergency room following the near-drowning, Fiordilino says that doctors at the hospital told her that even if he was resuscitated, his life would never be the same.
“He comes back, like maybe not even five, 10 minutes later and he’s like ‘yeah so it’s pH levels are too high,” she said of Dr. Aryan Toosi.
“They’re too acidic. So even if we are to bring him back, it wouldn’t be a good form of life,” the doctor reportedly said.
“‘He’d be suffering. So I think it’s best that I call the time for it.’”
Fiordilino says that her son was ice cold when doctors were trying to save him.
“He was so cold,” she said.
“I remember feeling him and being like, ‘he’s so cold.’”
Fiordilino said the toddler was initially breathing in the hospital room before he was erroneously pronounced dead — but hospital staff dismissed it as agonal breathing.
Fiordilino said her mother-in-law noticed signs of life.
“’She’s like, ‘Hey, it sounds like he’s breathing.’ And I’m like, ‘What?”‘ Fiordilino told the ABC 15.
Hospital staff told her that “it’s normal that it’s going to sound like that” and that the breathing was a result of the child’s deoxygenated brain stem, she recalled.
A police report obtained by the Daily Mail allegedly shows that an officer at one point heard a nurse say “I have a pulse” and that other staff moved quickly to help her “in attempting to revive Vincent.”
When the officer told Fiordilino her son had a pulse, Dr. Toosi reportedly brushed him off, stating “he was the doctor, he has a medical degree, he went to medical school for a reason and let him do his thing,” according to the police report.
Six minutes later, Vincent was declared dead.
The cop noted Vincent’s “stomach and chest area was rising and falling” and that she “observed what appeared to be another audible gasp.”
“I again observed what appeared to be a gasp or air release, which was now almost an hour later,” she said, according to the Daily Mail.
After the horrific blunder came to light, Dr. Toosi’s team rushed the boy via emergency airlift to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Doctors later determined the child suffered severe brain damage that will leave him cognitively impaired for life.
“He was alone,” said Alexus.
“He was alone for five-and-a-half hours. How do you do that to a baby?”
A representative for Dignity Health told ABC that “out of respect for the patient’s privacy, we cannot share any information and we are unable to comment on those involved in patient care.”
“Patient Safety and exceptional care are our highest priorities.”
A lawyer for Dr. Toosi told the Daily Mail that “his commitment to delivering high-quality care has always been rooted in a desire to provide healing, safety and comfort to his community.”
“Due to pending litigation and privacy laws, we cannot speak to the details of the care provided at this time.”
Gilbert Police Sgt. Jordan Tuckenbrod told the Daily Mail that “the facts gathered in our investigation, combined with all facts known at this time, did not establish probable cause for any criminal conduct involving medical personnel.”
“As a result, no charges were forwarded against those involved.”
“This case is now in the process of being referred to the Attorney General’s Office for their review,” he added.
“We do not have an estimated timeline for when their review would be completed.”
