Patricia Del Rio

24 years since covering 9/11. I’ll never forget the loss, the grief, and the way America came together.

Now, more than ever, as a nation so divided, we need to remember that unity.

“Never Forget” is not just about the past—it’s a promise for our future. 🇺🇸✨

Never Forget: 24 Years Later

Today marks 24 years since September 11, 2001, a day I covered as a journalist and one I will never forget.

I saw what words can scarcely describe—the sheer horror of people jumping from the burning towers, choosing a final act of desperation over certain death inside. I interviewed men and women who clutched photographs of loved ones, begging for help in finding them. Their faces etched with grief, fear, and disbelief are images I will never erase.

For me, the tragedy was also deeply personal. I lost my dear friend Eric Lehrfeld that day. He was brilliant, hysterically funny and had a full of life ahead of him with a wife and baby daughter. To this day, I feel the ache of that loss for them and for all the families who lost loved ones.

Today, I am reminded of the days and weeks that followed 9/11. I saw something remarkable happen. America came together. Strangers helped strangers. Lines stretched around city blocks to donate blood. Flags hung from windows and bridges. Politics didn’t matter. We were bound together by grief, yes, but also by compassion, resilience, and resolve.

Today, I reflect not only on what was lost that day, but on what has been lost since: our sense of unity. Nearly a quarter century later, our country feels more divided, more tribal, than ever. We have forgotten what 9/11 briefly reminded us…that we are stronger together.

That is why remembrance matters. For young people who were not born then, 9/11 is just a chapter in a history book. But for those of us who bore witness, it remains a living memory. Teaching it in schools is essential. Learning about not just the horror, but the humanity, the courage, and the way we rose together in the face of tragedy.

“Never Forget” cannot be just a slogan. It must be a promise: to honor those who died, to remember the lessons, and to ensure future generations understand the weight of that day.

Twenty-four years later, I still carry the images, the voices, and the heartbreak of 9/11. Sharing them is my small way of keeping that promise. Never forget.

Who else put the heat on today? It’s so chilly in Connecticut right now! I can’t believe it’s days away from Memorial Day weekend. It feels like November!

Saint Patrick’s Day Rainbow at our house! 🌈

Former President Jimmy Carter has died at 100 years old.

What a special evening celebrating the legacy of Denise D’Ascenzo with a beautiful award dinner filled with love and inspiration.

We celebrated some very special people in CT who are inspiring others to make a difference in their communities.

The 2024 Award Recipients:

Kindness Award: (Posthumously) - Dan Nolan

Human Spirit Awards:
The Bristol Police Department
Lesley Bennett
Dave Stevens
Dr. William Petit
Jalyn Hunter

It was my absolute honor to work alongside Denise’s husband Wayne, her daughter Kathryn, and and so many other wonderful people with less recognizable names to put this event together. Denise would be so proud of how hard they are working to keep her memory alive and honor her beautiful spirit by awarding people who are doing kind and inspiring things in this world. As Denise would say, “Be open, be brave, be kind.” We all never know how long we have on this earth, but with those guiding principles, it is a life well lived. Denise’s certainly was.

Take a few moments today to stop and reflect….

23 years ago today I lost a good friend who died in one of the Twin Towers on 9/11. I also covered this tragic event in our nation’s history. As a former journalist and as a friend of a victim, I will repost this every year. I bore witness to the horrible sights of this attack and I feel obligated to do my small part in making sure we never forget what happened.

On September 11, 2001, I was working as a reporter at KTLA in Los Angeles, but I happened to be home in NY visiting my family and then the unthinkable happened. My news director Jeff Wald called me and said "can you get down there and we will link you up with a satellite truck." To this day, it is the most gut wrenching event I’ve ever covered. I still think about the faces of the victims from their pictures and the tears in the eyes of the family members left behind. Seeing a random shoe on the ground or article of clothing covered in the ash. You knew what it was. Many were from the jumpers. I think to my self the hell they must have been in to have to choose between jumping to their deaths or burning alive. It’s painful to let my mind go there and think about some of that stuff, (some of it too horrific to describe) but I force myself on this day because we can’t forget. Not the day, not the people...none of it.

Some of the things that stay with me until this day about the days reporting from Ground Zero are the grey powdery dust that smelled of jet fuel and ashy rubble that was everywhere. My heart breaks for the family members of the victims who would come up to any reporter they could find and hand them a photocopy of a picture of their loved one. Tears in their eyes, begging us to put the person's picture on the news because maybe they were lost, or had amnesia in some hospital or something. We had no idea then that these people were never coming home. When we ultimately realized it, the feeling in your soul is crushing. I can still feel the pain in my heart when I conjure up the memory of the moment the reality of the magnitude of what had happened settled in my brain.

On September 11th, I was supposed to be meeting a good friend of mine Eric Lehrfeld. I hadn't seen him in a while since I had been living in Los Angeles. He was married and had a baby girl and was excited to get together and fill me in on his happy life and show me pictures of his wife and daughter.

I kept leaving him messages on his cell phone telling him I was caught up covering the planes in the buildings and that I would be in touch. I never made the connection that he was killed on 9/11. He did not work at the World Trade Center. As it turns out, he was there that morning at Windows on The World having a breakfast meeting. He was 32. A life cut too short like all the others.

I don’t remember how and when the day came to be called 9/11. To my memory it wasn’t until probably weeks later.
In the early hours and days after the attack we had no words to encompass all that had happened. We referred to it on TV in our reporting as “Ground Zero.” So much had happened, but the collapsed buildings and all the devastation that surrounded it was the epicenter of the attack and so that was the word we used.

My heart is heavy today. Hard to believe 19 years have gone by. 2,997 lives lost, more than 6000 injured and other people who would later die of cancer and respiratory disease related to the 9/11 attacks. The picture below is the skyline I will always remember in NY from my childhood with Lady Liberty standing in the foreground. It is forever in my mind’s eye of what the skyline would have looked like when I first visited the Statue of Liberty as a child.

The second picture is of Eric. The smartest person I ever met. Seriously. He taught me how the stock market works. He taught me how to navigate the internet. He taught me about Japanese Anime (animation). I still have books he gave me which are some of my favorites to this day. (A Simple Plan by Scott Smith) Who knows what he would have accomplished in life.

The third photo is of Eric’s name at the memorial at the site. His name, like all the other’s forever etched in history as victims of a senseless attack.

I will never forget him. I will never forget any of the people I met during that time. WE MUST NEVER FORGET!

Nicole is officially a high schooler! I can’t believe it! It seems like yesterday she started kindergarten. Here’s to 9th grade and a great school year ahead! 📕

Some personal news… that’s a wrap on 8 1/2 years at WFSB - Channel 3 Eyewitness News

Just a quick note to let you all know I have decided to resign from Channel 3. I feel like this is the right decision for me and for my family.

I want you to know it has been my absolute pleasure working with the people there these past 8 1/2 years.

WFSB is a special place with dedicated and hardworking people and I have deep admiration for my colleagues.

When I arrived there in 2016, it was after a six year Mommy hiatus. I had left my job at WPIX in NY as an anchor and reporter to come to Connecticut and start the life of a stay at home Mommy.

When my daughter started kindergarten, it was time to
re-enter the workforce and the people at WFSB created a lovely and welcoming home for me. It felt like family.

I'm proud of the stories I was able to tell over these years and the Emmy, Murrow, CT Society of Professional Journalists , CT Press Club and National Press Club awards that came with some of them...but I could not have done that without the help of all of the news team. This business is, was and always will be about teamwork.

One particular thing I have come to enjoy the most during my time at Channel 3 is the role of "mentor." I never set out to be one, but after Denise D'Ascenzo's death, I kind of tried to pick up her mantle. She was always so encouraging and believed in helping the next generation grow and hone their journalistic skills. I have loved helping many of the younger people there and watching them grow...including the ones who have since moved on from Channel 3 and are on their career trajectories in other markets.

When I started at Channel 3, my daughter Nicole was starting kindergarten. She's now starting high school in the fall. I'm keenly aware these next 4 years are the most time she will be with us for probably the rest of our lives. Once she goes off to college, has a job, spouse, kids of her own...it all changes.
I'm focused now on really being there for her and pursuing a career that offers a good
work/home life balance.

As for me, and what's next...I'm not really sure. It's been 28 years this month since I first went on the air. Is TV news still in my future? I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. I've always loved mentoring and coaching. Maybe public speaking coaching? I've been asked a lot over the years about voice over work. Maybe that. Maybe teaching. Maybe PR? I'm excited about the future and new beginnings.

To you the viewers, I am so appreciative of the kindness you have shown me all these years. Some of you have followed my trajectory all the way back to my days in Los Angeles, then to NY and then to CT. You mean the world to me. I hope you’ll continue to keep in touch on my page. I’ll be giving updates on my journey for what’s next in chapter two of my life. As we say in TV, stay tuned…

I love you all,

Patricia