‘I thought I lost my baby’: Mother speaks out after toddler found alive in morgue

GILBERT, Ariz. (AZFamily/Gray News) - New details are emerging in the case of an 18-month-old boy who was pronounced dead at an Arizona hospital, only to be found alive in the morgue hours later.

Vincent Fiordilino, 18 months, was taken to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center on Feb. 8 after nearly drowning in a swimming pool. He was pronounced dead — but five hours later, he was found alive in the hospital morgue.

Now, nearly eight months after the incident, Vincent’s mother, Alexus Fiordilino, is speaking publicly for the first time. She said she still relives that day.

“I didn’t even think stuff like that happened. I thought I lost my baby, and he was back,” she said. “There isn’t a day I don’t think about that day.”

The incident began when the family found Vincent floating face down in a pool at a Super Bowl party. Police arrived and performed CPR before paramedics took the toddler to Mercy Gilbert.

Fiordilino said she begged first responders to save her son.

“I remember just begging the police officers and the fire department to just save him,” she said. “I’m saying goodbye. And I’m begging him. I’m just begging Vincent to come back.”

Hours later, she got the call that he was alive.

“I remember feeling really grateful. And I remember just wanting to rush to him. I needed to get back to him. I felt so bad that he was alone,” she said.

Attorney questions canceled test, delayed labs

The family’s attorney says new documents reveal a potential lapse in care, stating the doctor ordered then canceled a test that would have shown how much oxygen was in Vincent’s blood.

The toddler arrived at the hospital around 6:04 p.m. on Feb. 8. At 6:08 p.m., a doctor ordered an arterial blood gas test to check oxygen in the blood. That test was canceled, according to documents shared by the family’s attorney. At 6:11 p.m., labs were collected. At 6:20 p.m. — nine minutes later — Vincent was pronounced dead.

Body camera footage shows officers asking at 6:13 p.m., “Do we have results on the gas yet?” Staff responded they did not. Those results did not come in until 6:38 p.m., 18 minutes after the toddler was declared dead.

The documents also show the doctor did not sign his report until the day after Vincent was found alive.

“I think that man failed to do his job properly... He failed my son in every step of the way,” Fiordilino said.

Gilbert Police are asking the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to review the case for possible felony child abuse charges against the doctor. The family’s attorney said they will be filing a complaint against the hospital and doctor next week.

Fiordilino said she believes if doctors had waited for the lab results, Vincent would be in a very different place. The toddler has significant medical issues that will require lifelong care, the family’s attorney said.

“We trusted the professionals that took an oath, made a promise, that they would do everything they could. And they looked at my son for whatever reason and decided he wasn’t worth it,” she said.

The attorney general’s office said it has not decided whether to review the case at this time.