Actor Gary Sinise, who is probably best known for playing Lieutenant Dan in the movie “Forrest Gump,” is mourning the death of his son. Mac lost his long battle with cancer on January 5, 2024. He was only 33 years old.
According to the Gary Sinise Foundation’s website, in 2018, McCanna Anthony“Mac” Sinise was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Chordoma. Gary explained that Chordoma starts in the spine. Only 300 people a year are diagnosed with Chordoma in the United States, and about 70% of those people are completed cured after surgery to remove the tumor; however, cancer eventually returns for the other 30%.
Mac had surgery to remove the tumor in 2018, but in 2019, the cancer came back. Gary wrote, “This began a long battle that disabled him more and more as time went on.”
View this post on Instagram
Despite his cancer battle, Mac still pursued his love of music as long as possible. He’s a graduate of the USC Thorton School of Music, and in 2023, he decided to finish a song he had started writing in his college days. The song was called “Arctic Circles.” At this point in his cancer battle, he was paralyzed from the chest down and was no longer to play the instruments he loved like the drums and the piano, but he used an iPad to finish writing the song from his hospital bed.
Finishing and recording this song led the completion of an entire album titled “Resurrection & Revival.” Mac died the same week the album went to press.
Gary rushed Mac to the emergency room on December 30, 2023. Mac was “having trouble getting his breath.” Unfortunately, Mac never made it back home. Gary wrote, “On January 5th, with the family all around him, he let go. His battle with Chordoma was over and he was at peace.”
Gary described his family as “heartbroken” at the loss of their son. He wrote, “As parents, it is so difficult losing a child. My heart goes out to all who have suffered a similar loss, and to anyone who has lost a loved one.”
Gary added, “Our family’s cancer fight lasted for 5 ½ years, and it became more and more challenging as time went on. While our hearts ache at missing him, we are comforted in knowing that Mac is no longer struggling, and inspired and moved by how he managed it. He fought an uphill battle against a cancer that has no cure, but he never quit trying.” He added, “I am so blessed, fortunate, and proud to be his dad.”
Watch the video below for more about this sad news and Gary’s thoughts and memories of his son.
