PHOENIX — A toddler discovered in a backyard pool in a Phoenix suburb in February was declared dead before being found breathing hours later in a room that serves as the hospital morgue, according to recently released police records.
Two Gilbert police officers saw signs of life multiple times, but the child was still taken to the hospital’s “cold room” after being treated by medical staff, according to the documents.
Gilbert police and fire officials were dispatched to the home at about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 in response to a reported drowning. They performed life-saving measures on the child before taking him to a local hospital. Medical staff also tried to revive him before pronouncing the boy dead about an hour later.
About five hours later, police were notified that the child was breathing and was flown to another hospital. He ultimately survived and has been released, police said in a statement.
Gilbert police said they are recommending negligence charges against the parents. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it was reviewing the case and declined further comment Monday.
Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where the 18-month-old was taken, said in a statement that the hospital conducted “a thorough review of all aspects of the care provided to learn what happened and to make meaningful changes to strengthen our care.”
The hospital called it “a heartbreaking situation” and declined to release further details.
The boy was declared dead, despite his parents and officers there saying he appeared to be gasping for air, according to the records.
“Please do your thing and let me do my thing,” a doctor told an officer, according to the report. “I went to medical school for a reason.”
When a team from the local medical examiner’s office arrived in the so-called cold room, they found the boy breathing and rushed him to another hospital, police said.
“Thank you for your prayers, your kindness, and your support for baby Vincent — our miracle fighter,” says a GoFundMe page, which was created in February to help the family with medical bills.
An ABC affiliate in Phoenix, KNXV-TV, was the first to report the story.
There have been other cases of people discovered alive after being declared dead. In Southfield, Michigan, Timesha Beauchamp, a 20-year-old with cerebral palsy, was declared dead by a doctor over the phone in 2020. City paramedics had responded to a 911 call at her family’s home.
Later that day, a funeral home opened the body bag and found Beauchamp gasping for air. She was swiftly taken to a hospital but never recovered and died two months later. Southfield settled a negligence lawsuit filed by the family for $3.25 million. ——— Ed White contributed to this story from Detroit.
