Gary Sinise's son dies of rare cancer

28 Feb 2024

WWNY

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The younger Sinise died Jan. 5 at age 33 from a very rare cancer called chordoma. The cancer of the spinal cord affects, on average, only 300 people in the U.S. per year.

(Gray News) - Actor Gary Sinise, well-known for his charitable works, announced the death of his son McCanna Anthony Sinise, known as Mac.

The son of the “Forrest Gump” actor died Jan. 5 at age 33 from a very rare cancer called chordoma. The cancer of the spinal cord affects, on average, only 300 people in the U.S. per year, the statement said.

Mac Sinise served on the Gary Sinise Foundation, a charitable foundation that works with veterans, first responders and their families, as an assistant manager of outreach and education.

Gary Sinise said Mac Sinise’s diagnosis came in 2018 at around the same time Gary Sinise’s wife Moira was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. After treatment, his wife is cancer-free.

Mac Sinise had surgery to remove the initial tumor, but his cancer returned and spread.

“This began a long battle that disabled him more and more as time went on,” Gary Sinise said.

Because of the effects of his cancer and treatment that included five spine surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy, Mac Sinise had to step away from the foundation in 2020, but he still pursued his love of music even as his health deteriorated.

A graduate of the University of Southern California music school, Mac Sinise was described by his father as “an exceptional drummer,” and before his cancer diagnosis, he sometimes filled in on the Lt. Dan Band when they were on the road.

In 2023, Mac Sinise collaborated with an old college friend and the Lt. Dan Band to create music. When he lost the ability to play the drums, Mac Sinise took up harmonica.

The album that resulted, which went to press the week he died, is titled Mac Sinise: Resurrection and Revival and is available for pre-order.

Gary Sinise expressed sorrow at the loss of his son:

“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. Mac loved movies, and we always told him he reminded us of the soldier at the end of the extraordinary film 1917, running through the battlefield, bombs going off all around him, knocking him down one after the other, yet he keeps getting back up, refusing to quit and keeps running forward. I am so blessed, fortunate, and proud to be his dad.”