Anguished mom shares heartbreaking ordeal of toddler son who was found breathing in morgue after being declared dead at hospital

An Arizona mother has opened up about the anguish she felt after her toddler son was found breathing at a hospital morgue, despite being declared dead.

Alexus Fiordilino described February 8 as the worst day of her life, after discovering her son, 18-month-old Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino, floating face down in the pool at the family's home in Gilbert, Arizona at around 5.30pm.

Alexus and her husband, Angelo, performed lifesaving measures on the young boy as he was foaming at the mouth and he was quickly rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about one hour later.

'I just wanted help,' Alexus recounted to ABC 15, telling how when she got to the hospital she thought 'OK, these people are going to help me.'

But soon, she claims, 'I had to say goodbye. Do you know how hard that is?'

Then, more than five hours after the young boy was pronounced dead, Vincent was found alive in the hospital morgue when the Medical Examiner's transport arrived.

'He ended up in the morgue,' Alexus said. 'He was alone.'

As a result of the ordeal, the boy suffered extensive brain damage and will need lifelong care. The Fiordilino family is now raising questions about the decisions made by the emergency room doctor that day.

In her interview, Alexus recounted how Dr Aryan Toosi, the emergency room doctor on call that day, approached her just minutes after her son arrived to discuss his chances.

'He comes back, like maybe not even five, 10 minutes later and he's like, "Yeah, so his pH levels are too high. They're too acidic. So even if we are to bring him back, it wouldn't be a good form of life. He'd be suffering. So I think it's best that I call the time for it,"' she said.

The worried mother then begged for her son to come back, telling how she gave her young boy a hug as she said her goodbyes.

'He was so cold. I remember feeling him and being like, "He's so cold,"' she said.

When her mother-in-law then went over to hug Vincent, Alexus said, she thought she heard the young boy breathing.

'She's like, "Hey, it sounds like he's breathing." And I'm like, "What?"'

But the medical staff told her 'it's normal that it's going to sound like that,' Alexus said.

They apparently believed the sound was simply agonal breathing, an involuntary brainstem reflex that occurs when the brain is severely deprived of oxygen. 

Others, though, also seemed to notice that the child was breathing in the moments before Dr Toosi pronounced him dead.

In a police report previously obtained by the Daily Mail, an officer described how he recalled a nurse saying, 'I have a pulse,' and other hospital staffers rushing to assist her 'in attempting to revive Vincent.'

When the cop then walked into the room where Dr Toosi was talking with the boy's parents, he informed them of what he had overheard.

But the police officer said the physician responded sharply. He stated in his report: 'Toosi arrogantly told me he was the doctor, he has a medical degree, he went to medical school for a reason, and to let him do his thing.' 

At that point, Toosi walked back into the emergency room and told staff to stop CPR and other life saving measures on the child, and said: 'As long as there are no objections, I'd like to call time of death,' the officer recounted. 

The doctor then called Vincent's time of death at 6.20pm, and six minutes later, Alexus and Angelo were told to say goodbye to their baby boy.

The officer also recalled seeing Vincent's 'stomach/chest area rising and falling,' but staff told them that was the gas leaving his body, investigators detailed. 

When medical staff went to move the little boy's body to the morgue later that night, a female officer recalled that she 'observed what appeared to be another audible gasp' coming from the child, the report stated. 

Then, when she entered the morgue, the cop said: 'I again observed what appeared to be a gasp or air release, which was now almost an hour later.'

In other footage obtained by ABC 15, someone could be heard asking: 'Do we have results on the gas yet?'

The Fiordilino family's attorney, John Brewer, said Toosi later cited Vincent's blood gas as part of his medical decision to pronounce the toddler dead.

Records also show Toosi justified not taking Vincent's core body temperature or performing warming measures due, in part, to the results of the blood gas test.

He then called Vincent's time of death at 6.20pm, but medical records suggest the doctor did not receive the test results until 6.38pm, 18 minutes after pronouncing Vincent dead. 

Once it was discovered that Vincent was alive after being declared dead 'in error' by the doctor, the report says the toddler was airlifted to Phoenix Children's Hospital for treatment, where an MRI confirmed he suffered extensive brain damage and will need lifelong care.

'He was alone,' Alexus lamented. 'He was alone for five-and-a-half hours. How do you do that to a baby?'

'But it, like, doesn't end,' she noted, as she shared a photo of her young son in a wheelchair during physical therapy. 'There's no, like, happy ending.' 

Brewer, the family's lawyer, said the hospital and doctors now 'need to make it right for the child,' arguing there were warning signs and missteps before Vincent was found alive.

'They took an oath, right?' Alexus added. 'They have to do everything they can.'

In a statement to ABC 15, a spokesperson for Dignity Health acknowledged it is a 'heartbreaking situation.'

'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,' the spokesperson said, while asserting: 'Patient safety and exception care are our highest priorities.'

Dr Toosi's attorney Scott Holden also told the outlet that the doctor's 'thoughts are with the young patient and family, and he wishes the child continued healing and recovery.

'His commitment to delivering high-quality care has always been rooted in a desire to provide healing, safety and comfort to his community,' the lawyer said.

'Due to pending litigation and patient privacy laws, we cannot speak to the details of the care provided at this time.'

Meanwhile, Sgt Jordan Truckenbrod, of the Gilbert Police Department, said: '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 noted. 'We do not have an estimated timeline for when their review would be completed.' 

The Daily Mail has also reached out to Dignity Health, Scott Holden and Gilbert Police for comment.