Rachel Danis, the fertility doctor who later became Patrick Clancy’s wife, said she first learned that his three children had been tragically killed by his ex-wife after noticing their photograph on his phone during their first date.
Danis, 37, described the emotional encounter during a 60 Minutes interview with Patrick, 36. She had met him at a New York City run club in January 2024, about a year after his children were killed by his ex-wife, Lindsay.
After connecting at the run club, the pair met for coffee. It was there that Danis noticed a photograph of Patrick’s deceased children on his phone.
“Pat pulled out his phone to pay, and I noticed this adorable photo of children as the wallpaper,” she recalled.
Danis said she asked him, “Who are those cuties?” Patrick replied, “Those are my kids.”
She then asked whether the children lived in Massachusetts. Patrick told her, “They died,” an exchange Danis said took place “just at the cashier.”
The revelation left Danis heartbroken and full of questions, although she said she did not know exactly what to ask in that moment.
During the 60 Minutes interview, Danis said she has tried to support Patrick throughout the high-profile murder trial involving his ex-wife. She said she wanted to help carry “some of the weight from Pat.”
Rachel Danis said she learned that Patrick Clancy’s three children had been tragically killed by his ex-wife after seeing their photograph on his phone wallpaper during their first date.
Danis saw a picture of Patrick Clancy’s deceased children, Cora, Dawson and Callan, and asked, “Who are these cuties?” before he told her they had been killed.
The couple married in April. During the interview, Danis revealed that she and Patrick are “starting a family.” She did not say whether they are currently expecting a child, although she has recently been seen in public with what appears to be a pregnancy bump.
Danis acknowledged that she cannot bring Patrick’s children back, but said she hopes to help him rebuild his family and find peace after their deaths.
“If I can honor them and allow Pat to grieve but also just continue to honor them in the present, it, I guess that’s all I can do,” she said.
Patrick said he is also preparing to tell any future child about their older siblings, Cora, Dawson and Callan.
“I think every parent can agree, you have different relationships with your kids, but they’re all your kids. And I can’t wait to tell them about their brothers and sister,” Patrick said.
The grieving father also recalled the devastating moment he realized Lindsay had killed their children after he returned to the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023.
Patrick said he had been out running errands when he came home and found Lindsay in the backyard. She had slashed her wrists and neck and was paralyzed after jumping from a second-story window.
He then found the children in the basement after Lindsay had strangled them. Cora and Dawson were pronounced dead, while baby Callan was still alive and taken to the hospital. Patrick said Callan died four days later in his father’s arms.
Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial ended in a controversial mistrial earlier this month after the jury reached an 11-1 deadlock, with one holdout juror refusing to acquit her by reason of insanity.
In the 60 Minutes interview, Patrick, 36, said he considered suicide after his children died and did not expect to live to see his 35th birthday.
He said when he spoke to Lindsay after the episode, he asked if she remembered what happened, and she told him it was ‘like a dream.’
‘And she remembered it much in the way you would remember a dream after waking up,’ he revealed.
CBS journalist Ross Douthat then asked Patrick: ‘Do you feel like you failed in some way in this period or do you feel like you did the best you could?’
‘I think I did the best I could with what I had at the time. And I live with the outcome. I live with it every day,’ Patrick replied before stating that he has forgiven his ex-wife.
Patrick explained how he learned his ex-wife, Lindsay, had been struggling when Callan was just five months old and she had gone without sleep for several nights.
‘She came downstairs one morning, and she said – “I didn’t sleep at all last night.” And so I said – you know, “That’s awful.” And, “I’ll take the kids to school. You just focus on getting caught up on sleep,”‘ he recounted.
Things only got worse from there with her lowest point being December 2022.
‘December was – it was a big struggle for her – just a huge lack of sleep, deep, deep depression, intrusive thoughts, and – at the end of that month she went to the hospital.’
By New Year’s Day, Lindsay had checked herself into an inpatient program at McLean Hospital in Boston.
It was later that month that she killed the couple’s three children.
Cora and Dawson were found dead at the home. Callan, the infant, was still alive and rushed to the hospital, where he died four days later, Patrick said
During Sunday night’s interview, Patrick also shared the emotional details of the final moments he got to spend with Callan.
After learning that he was still alive, Patrick rushed to the hospital, hopeful that maybe one of his kids had survived the attack.
‘I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live,’ he said with tears in his eyes.
‘And remember just thinking, “Just gimme one. Just gimme one kid,” and I would raise him as best I could, and I would give him the best life I possibly could. I’d tell him about his brother and sister.
‘And I was holding out hope for that. And then when I got to the hospital, I saw the doctor. I saw the look on her face, and I knew that it wasn’t going to be a good prognosis.
‘Callan’s heart kept beating for four days. I’m so grateful for those four days that I had with him. And I’m so grateful he hung on.’
Patrick told Douthat that he spoke to his baby son in those four days, telling him that he was ‘sorry’.
He also said he experienced suicidal thoughts and was content with not making it to his next birthday following their deaths.
‘There was a time where I didn’t think I would live to see my 35th birthday, and I was completely fine with it,’ he said.
