A toddler in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert, Arizona, was declared dead after a drowning incident in February, only to be discovered alive and breathing more than five hours later in a hospital’s cold room, according to police records released this week. The 18-month-old boy had been pulled unresponsive from a backyard pool during a Super Bowl gathering and was transported to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where a doctor pronounced him dead at 18:20 local time. When a medical examiner’s transporter arrived to retrieve the body, the child was found to be breathing and was airlifted to a children’s hospital; he has since been discharged and is expected to require physical therapy.

Authorities in Arizona are now reviewing the case, with Gilbert police recommending negligence charges against the parents after investigators reported a strong odour of marijuana at the home and unsecured doors leading to the pool. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has not yet decided on charges. The doctor involved, Aryan Toosi, told an officer at the scene, “Please do your thing and let me do my thing. I went to medical school for a reason,” according to the police report, which also notes that both parents and two officers had questioned whether the child was still breathing after the time of death was called. The hospital has described the event as “a heartbreaking situation” and says it has conducted a thorough review of its care protocols.

Separately, in Mississippi, the family of 18-year-old college football player Nolan Xavier Wells has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump as investigators work to determine how he died during a Fourth of July trip to Horn Island. Wells travelled to the barrier island by boat with friends, was last seen on 4 July, and his body was recovered from the water two days later. Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said witnesses told investigators Wells chose to stay on the island believing he could catch another ride back; an autopsy was scheduled but no cause of death has been released. Crump’s office said the family is demanding a transparent investigation.

In other incidents involving minors, a court in Russia’s Irkutsk region convicted a 74-year-old kindergarten teacher of using physical force against five children in her care, fining her 20,000 roubles and banning her from the profession for two years after surveillance footage showed her grabbing and pushing the toddlers. In Italy, a five-year-old boy was struck in the face by a piece of playground equipment at a hotel in San Mauro Mare and taken to hospital with scratches but no fractures, local emergency services reported. Spanish traffic police are reconstructing the final hours of a 17-year-old Norwegian tourist, Nikoline, who was found dead on a motorway near Mijas after being hit by a lorry that fled the scene; she had been celebrating Norway’s World Cup victory over Brazil at a nightclub in Puerto Banús. And in California, a family has sued a fitness club after surveillance video appeared to show a childcare worker throwing their 23-month-old son over her head, causing a traumatic brain injury; the Bay Club in El Segundo said it could not comment on ongoing litigation. All investigations remain active, with authorities in each jurisdiction yet to issue final findings.