Patrick Clancy Reveals He Considered Suicide After Deaths of His 3 Children

Patrick Clancy is opening up about the darkest period of his life after losing his three children.

During the Sunday, September 20, episode of 60 Minutes, the grieving father, 38, told CBS correspondent Ross Douthat that he considered taking his own life after ex-wife Lindsay killed their children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan.

Patrick was asked whether he experienced “suicidal thoughts” after the deaths of his kids.

“There was a time when I — I didn’t think I would live to see my 35th birthday,” he said. “And I was completely fine with it.”

Patrick also described how difficult it became for him to remain in Duxbury, the Boston suburb where he and Lindsay moved after their eldest Cora's birth.

“I really, without thinking, I drove by their school,” Patrick said. “And it was at the exact time that all of their friends were getting dropped off. And I was just, I couldn’t be there anymore.”

In May 2023, an emotional experience on what would have been Callan's first birthday made Patrick feel even more certain about his decision to leave Massachusetts.

“I light a candle, and I say, ‘I love you, buddy.’ And I walk out on Fifth Avenue and I start crying my eyes out. And nobody cared,” Patrick said.

Several months after his children died, Patrick moved to New York City in April 2023. At the time, he was just two months away from turning 35. He said the experience showed him that New York gave him the space to “grieve.”

That move also eventually led Patrick to his new wife, Dr. Rachel Danis, who joined him for the 60 Minutes interview.

Rachel is an infertility specialist who recalled meeting Patrick while the two were working out in New York City.

"I was just a girl who met a guy running in Central Park on a really cold Saturday," Rachel recalled. "And I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Patrick eventually returned to Duxbury with 60 Minutes to visit a place he created in memory of his children. He showed the playground he constructed as a tribute to Cora, Dawson and Callan.

Even after all these years, Patrick said he continues to feel connected to his children.

“I remember early on having a dream, maybe six months or a year after. And I’m in the kitchen at the house, and Cora walks in. And I just look at her and it was, like, I basically just said, ‘Where have you been?’” Patrick recalled. “And she comes up to me and gives me a big hug.”

“Those dreams are so real. It’s like I’m lucid in those dreams,” he said while holding back tears.