The heartbroken husband of a Massachusetts midwife accused of murdering their three young children has said he forgives her and asked for others to find it in their hearts to do the same.
Patrick Clancy, 34, gave searing insight into his ‘excruciating and relentless pain’ in a post on the family’s GoFundMe page, his first public remarks since the tragedy.
‘I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have,’ Clancy wrote.
‘The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring towards everyone — me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients.
‘The very fibers of her soul are loving. All I wish for her now is that she can somehow find peace.’
Lindsay Clancy, 32, is accused of strangling their daughter Cora, five, son Dawson, three, and baby Callan, eight months, at the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, on Tuesday.
The two older children died that day and the baby died on Friday. Lindsay is still in a Boston hospital after herself attempting suicide. She is facing murder and assault charges, and is said to have been suffering post-natal depression at the time of the killings.
Patrick Clancy, 34, said he forgives his wife Lindsay, 32, after she allegedly murdered their three young children and then attempted suicide at their Massachusetts home last week
Lindsay Clancy, 32, is accused of strangling their daughter Cora, 5, son Dawson, 3, and baby Callan, eight months old, at the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts on Tuesday
Patrick found his wife lying unconscious outside their home at about 6pm Tuesday and called 911. He had ‘popped out for 25 minutes’ to collect a takeout order.
Investigators are probing if the midwife, who was on leave from Massachusetts General Hospital, was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
She had written about her struggle with postpartum depression on her Facebook page just six weeks after the birth of Callan, who was born in May.
More than $690,000 had been raised by Saturday according to a GoFundMe page created for the family’s medical bills, funeral services, and legal help.
‘A lot of people have said they can’t imagine and they’re right, there’s absolutely nothing that can prepare you,’ Patrick Clancy wrote in the post on Saturday.
‘The shock and pain is excruciating and relentless. I’m constantly reminded of them and with the little sleep I get, I dream about them on repeat.’
Patrick wrote about his wife Lindsay, whom he married in 2016 in Southington, Connecticut, according to an engagement announcement in the Scituate Mariner.
‘Our marriage was wonderful and diametrically grew stronger as her condition rapidly worsened,’ he wrote.
‘I took as much pride in being her husband as I did in being a father and felt persistently lucky to have her in my life.
‘I still remember the very moment I first laid eyes on her and can recall how overcome I was with the kind of love at first sight you only see in movies. It really didn’t take long before I was certain I wanted to marry her.’
Patrick talked about Lindsay’s dedication to being a nurse and a mother.
‘We mutually understood the reality that people can have bad days, but we stuck to the rule that when one of us got lost, the other was always there to bring them home, always,’ he wrote.
‘She loved being a nurse, but nothing matched her intense love for our kids and dedication to being a mother. It was all she ever wanted. Her passion taught me how to be a better father.’
He asked for forgiveness for Lindsay, as he said he has forgiven her. ‘I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have,’ he wrote.
‘The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring towards everyone – me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients.
‘The very fibers of her soul are loving. All I wish for her now is that she can somehow find peace.’
Patrick, 34, gave searing insight into his ‘excruciating and relentless pain’ in a post on the family’s GoFundMe page, his first public remarks since the tragedy.Pictured L-R: Lindsay, Dawson, Cora and Patrick
Patrick wrote about his wife Lindsay, whom he married in 2016 in Southington, Connecticut, according to an engagement announcement in the Scituate Mariner
Patrick wrote that his ‘family was the best thing that ever happened’ to him.
‘I took so much pride in being Lindsay’s husband and a dad to Cora, Dawson, and Callan. I always reminded myself that each day with them was a new gift.’
‘Any parent knows, it’s impossible to understand how much you will love your kids until you have them.
‘The same goes for understanding the devastation of losing them. Cora, Dawson, and Callan were the essence of my life and I’m completely lost without them.’
Patrick went on to talk about each child and described them as he would always remember them.
Cora, the couple’s first born, had an infectious laugh and was stunningly beautiful. She was the cautious one, but it was because she was so caring, he said. A caring older sister to her brothers Dawson and Callan.
‘She used to say she wanted to be a doctor and a mama when she grew up and she would practice by giving Callan check ups,’ Clancy wrote.
‘We would tell her she’s such a ‘good little mama,’ he continued. ‘She loved all babies, both real and pretend.’
Five-year-old Cora and three-year-old Dawson were pronounced dead on arrival to hospital
Heartbreaking pictures show Cora, right and Dawson, left, smiling together. The siblings were pronounced dead at hospital
Clancy, pictured with Cora as a baby, was a midwife at Massachusetts General Hospital
Clancy said his oldest son, Dawson, who had ‘beautiful, bold, brown eyes that beamed with friendship’ was ‘naturally humorous and generous beyond the norm of a typical toddler, always willing to share his toys with others.’
‘His best quality was his pure kindness,’ he wrote.
‘He would hug me tighter than most adults and every night he told me in consistent words at bedtime, without fail, ‘goodnight dada, I love you.’ … He was my buddy, my first boy, and truly a gift.’
Patrick also wrote about his youngest child – who was only born less than a year ago on May 26, 2022. He died on Friday at Boston Children’s Hospital, according to a spokeswoman for the Plymouth district attorney’s office.
The grieving father wrote that Callan was ‘our easy going child,’ who was always smiling. They nicknamed him ‘Happy Callan.’
‘If I was ever having a bad day, Callan always knew how to heal me,’ he wrote. ‘Perhaps that’s why he held on a little longer — to spare me whatever pain he could. As excruciating as it was, I was fortunate and grateful to feel his warmth until his very last moment. Faith is my only hope of believing he felt mine.’
Patrick said he’ll always think of Callan as his hero.
Callan was initially the only child to survive the incident, but he died on Friday morning
While Lindsay appeared to be a proud mother on Facebook, she shared about struggling with postpartum anxiety after the birth after baby Callan
‘Callan died with enormous courage despite being so little,’ he wrote. ‘Maybe it was his way of demonstrating what I need to do to press forward. I’ll always try to draw inspiration from him. He’ll always be my little hero.’
In the statement, Patrick thanked the community, along with the police, firefighters, local faith leaders, and others who have been there for their family.
‘I promise I’ll put all my energy into healing and rediscovering my purpose,’ he wrote. ‘I owe that to all of you, Duxbury fire and police, our compassionate health care workers, our local faith leaders, the Microsoft community’ — an apparent reference to his work — ‘and especially Cora, Dawson, and Callan. I don’t know how or when I’ll be able to do it, but your love and generosity will help me get started. I know that love always wins.’
A vigil took place on Thursday night at the Holy Family Church in Duxbury, with a priest saying that the mother had been ‘trying to deal with mental illness’ before becoming ‘overwhelmed’.
While Lindsay appeared to be a proud mother on Facebook, she shared about struggling with postpartum anxiety after the birth after baby Callan.
Last July, she wrote that six weeks after the child’s birth, she was feeling ‘dialed in’ and sought to focus on exercise, nutrition and her mindset, which she claimed ‘made all the difference.’
In 2020, she wrote online: ‘So unbelievably thankful for this family and life,’ along with doting images of her children.
Feelings of depression can be common after childbirth, but on rare occasions, they can lead to full postpartum psychosis.
In this extreme form of PPD, a mother can suffer from severe depression and hallucinations which can lead her to harm herself, her children, or both.
The hospital where Lindsay works said in a statement: ‘We are shocked and saddened to learn of this unthinkable tragedy. We extend our deepest sympathies to all those affected by these devastating events.’
Lindsay Clancy will be arraigned on charges including two counts of homicide and three each for strangulation and assault and battery with a deadly weapon for the deaths of her two children.
It is expected that further charges will be added for the death of Callan.
Tributes have been laid outside the home where the tragedy occurred, with balloons and flowers left by well-wishers piling up
Duxbury Police work at the scene where the two children were found dead on Tuesday night
Officers arrived at the family home on Tuesday after a frantic Patrick had discovered his wife unconscious on the ground below a second-floor window.
They discovered the three young children ‘unconscious’ upstairs ‘with obvious signs of trauma’.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz said it appeared that they had all been strangled.
Cruz said they will now conduct autopsies to determine how the children died and findings will be made public when a death certificate is issued.
He said of the family: ‘I cannot begin to fathom the pain, the depths of pain they must be feeling.
‘This is an unimaginable, senseless tragedy, and it is an ongoing investigation.’
Cruz warned, ‘nobody’s here to speculate’, adding ‘we’re well aware of the fact that anybody charged with a criminal crime is presumed innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.’
He wrapped up the conference by saying: ‘Certainly our hearts and condolences go up to the Clancy family’.
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, call the 24hr National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255; contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741; or chat with someone online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.