Family of toddler found alive in hospital morgue to file lawsuit: ‘I just want justice for my son’
Family members question whether the doctor relied on delayed blood gas results before pronouncing the 18-month-old dead.
- On February 8, 2026, 18-month-old Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino was discovered breathing in the morgue at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, nearly five hours after emergency room doctor Aryan Toosi declared him dead following a swimming pool accident.
- After Vincent arrived at the hospital, Toosi pronounced him dead at 6:20 p.m., citing high blood acidity levels, though documents show lab results were not available until 18 minutes after the declaration.
- Police reports indicate staff dismissed observations of potential breathing as 'agonal breathing' or gas leaving the body, while family members and officers noted signs of life before Vincent was moved to the morgue.
- Following his discovery, Vincent was airlifted to Phoenix Children's Hospital, where an MRI confirmed extensive brain damage requiring lifelong care; Dignity Health described the situation as a 'heartbreaking situation' in a statement.
- The Gilbert Police Department found no probable cause for criminal conduct, referring the case to the Arizona Attorney General for review, while the family's attorney plans to file a complaint against the hospital and doctor next week.
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The family plans to file a lawsuit against the hospital and the doctor.
Westfalenpost
An 18-month-old boy is declared dead after an accident. Five hours later, employees discover him alive in the morgue.
An 18-month-old boy is declared dead after an accident. Five hours later, employees discover him alive in the morgue.
Arizona family questions their child's medical treatment after he was pronounced dead, but later found alive in hospital morgue
A Gilbert family is questioning their child's medical treatment after he was pronounced dead in an emergency room, and then found alive in the hospital morgue roughly five hours later.
‘We Were Praising the Lord’: Mom Speaks Out After Toddler Found Alive in Morgue - Charisma Magazine Online
More than eight months after an Arizona toddler was declared dead only to be discovered alive in a hospital morgue hours later, his mother is speaking out. As Charisma previously reported, 18-month-old Vincent Fiordilino nearly drowned in his family’s swimming pool on Feb. 8 before being rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. A physician pronounced […]
Doc's Death Call Questioned; Inmate Escapes Hospital; Fired Nurses Sue
(MedPage Today) -- The mom of a toddler who was pronounced dead but later found breathing in the hospital morgue is questioning the emergency physician's decision to call the death. (ABC 15) Steven Powell, MD, former chief medical officer at a...
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