A toddler found face down in a pool spent hours declared dead in a hospital morgue before “coming back to life”, US media reports. The family of 18-month-old Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino made two frantic calls to the emergency services within minutes of each other as they desperately tried to save their child.
Call handlers can be heard telling the family how to carry out compressions in recordings of the harrowing telephone calls. One man, said to have identified himself as Vincent’s uncle, can be heard saying: “I just found my nephew in the pool.”
Asked if the child is breathing, the man replies: “We’re not sure.” In a second call, a woman yells: “I’m calling… I’m calling… I need an ambulance.”
After the emergency services arrived at the scene, Vincent was taken to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center in Gilbert, Arizona, where he was declared dead, according to the New York Post.
The same publication reports that police records show officers believed Vincent displayed signs of life before medics declared him dead.
A report claimed a doctor “arrogantly” told a police officer that he was the doctor and should be allowed to “do his thing”.
Hours after he was declared dead, a medical examiner who came to take Vincent’s body from the morgue found a faint heartbeat. The tot was swiftly airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
An MRI disproved the family’s claim that doctors had said Vincent suffered brain damage during the incident.
The Post reports that the boy suffered only a “minor” bruise to the brain which would be overcome by the organ’s future growth.
Vincent’s family has set up a fundraising page to help cover medical costs incurred after the incident on February 8.
They said: “Despite this miracle, Vincent still faces a long and challenging recovery. He will need extensive therapy, ongoing medical monitoring, and support for his healing organs.”
But according to the Post, police have recommended charges against Vincent’s parents after the results of a toxicology analysis reportedly showed they tested positive for THC, a psychoactive substance found in cannabis.
