| Eric Clapton |
Lory Del Santo
The Truth about Clapton and the death of our son
Nine years after losing their son Conor in a freak accident, Lory Del Santo and Eric Clapton are dealing with their grief in different ways. Here, the former model tells Lisa Sewards how she has finally found solace in becoming a mother again for the third time. For Clapton, the tragedy is run through with feelings of guilt about how reluctant a father he had been when his son was alive.
Lisa Sewards, 1999
| Lory Del Santo |
Lory Del Santo allows herself a smile when she picks up her newborn baby boy. Her eyes, glazed and touched with tragedy, briefly flicker to life. Then, when he has gone to sleep, a darkness envelops her again. It has been nine years since Lory and rock legend Eric Clapton's four year-old son, Conor, fell 53 floors to his death through the open window of a New York skyscraper. For Lory, the memory is so raw, it still seems like it happened only yesterday. The birth of Loren has been the first light in Lory's life since that desperate day and it is only his arrival which has now given her the strength to talk about the tragedy which was so utterly pointless. 'I cried for years and years, but the tears finally dried up. I have to be stronger now for Loren,' she says. 'After Conor died I was paralysed, emotionally and mentally. But Loren's birth has helped bring me back.'