A heartbroken father who lost two of his young children in a Bronx fire wants all New Yorkers to do him a favor:
“Spend time with your children.”
Sam Sanclemente delivered the tearful plea from the pulpit of Our Lady of Angels Church in front of 200 friends and family members and the coffins of his two kids, Sam Jr., 10, and daughter Sachiel, 2.
Holding up a thick manila envelope packed with hundreds of dollars of donations from caring New Yorkers, Sanclemente said: “I appreciate it but I don’t need it. To me it is useless,” as his voice began cracking with emotion.
Staring at the two white coffins, Sanclemente described the immigrant dream and the countless hours he spent toiling in a livery cab to earn a decent living at the sacrifice of his children.
Tearfully, he vividly recalled how his son would plead with him and say, “Daddy, take a day off – stay with us.”
Emotionally recalling how he would tell his son that he had to go to work, Sanclemente – who was driving his cab when the fire ravaged his Kingsbridge house – seemed angry at himself.
“It was greed that didn’t allow me to be there for my kids. It was greed. Greed! And I’ll never forgive myself for that,” he said in a trembling voice that sent mourners into tears.
He pleaded: “Love your children – spend time with them, that’s all they need.
“Oh, God, forgive me.”
Composing himself, Sanclemente handed the money-filled envelope to Sister Cleary, the principal of Our Lady of Angels Catholic School where his son was a fifth-grader.
Sanclemente also heaped praise on a dozen somber firefighters who fought the blaze and valiantly ran into the burning home in a failed attempt to save the kids. Speaking in a clear voice, Sanclemente told them: “Your uniform is the pride of the city.”
The Rev. Robert Ritchie, the parish pastor, reminded mourners that their prayers shouldn’t be directed just at Sanclemente’s little angels, but also the parents.
“We know that they are all right,” he said. “Our prayers should be for their father and their mother, who is still in the hospital.”
Sanclemente said he doesn’t know when or how he’ll tell his wife, Selena, who remains in critical condition at the Weill Cornell Medical Center, about the deaths of their two children.
He vowed yesterday to return to work because: “I need to keep my mind occupied – I have to survive somehow.”