Forrest Gump star Gary Sinise has announced the heartbreaking death of his son Mac Sinise at just 33 years old.
The 68-year-old actor shared the news on the Gary Sinise Foundation’s website on Tuesday. He revealed that his son died on January 5 surrounded by family after a years-long battle with the rare spinal cancer Chordoma.
In a lengthy tribute, Gary remembered his son as having an “upbeat personality”. He wrote: “Like any family experiencing such a loss, we are heartbroken and have been managing as best we can. 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: “It’s heartbreaking, and it’s just damn hard. 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.” Gary also said he is “so blessed, fortunate, and proud to be his dad.”
The actor opened up about the grief he suffered in 2018 after his wife Moira was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer just two months before Mac was given his Chordoma diagnosis. “Two cancer patients, mother and son, within two months of each other? A real punch in the gut,” Gary wrote. He said he tried researching Chordoma and discovered is is a “one in a million cancer”. The actor continued: “After months of treatment, Moira went into remission and has been cancer-free ever since.
“With Mac, after surgery to remove the initial tumor in September of 2018, and another spine procedure in February 2019 to clear what looked like an infection, unfortunately a follow up scan in May of 2019 would show that his Chordoma had come back and was spreading. This began a long battle that disabled him more and more as time went on.”
Mac had worked with the Gary Sinise Foundation and also played drums with his father’s Lt. Dan Band until he was forced to step away after undergoing repeated spinal surgeries when his cancer advanced. Despite Mac’s worsening condition, he continued to work with his father’s foundation regularly.
Gary said his son’s final project for his foundation was a podcast interview with father and son, recorded in January 2020. Speaking about Mac’s decision to step down from his work, Gary wrote: “This would finish his work with Gary Sinise Foundation. That year, he knew he had to step away to fight his battle. He would have to focus full-time on recovery and rehab, as there would be a fifth spine surgery in June, along with radiation and continuing chemotherapy.”
Gary said having Mac helping him at work was “a gift”. He added: “He was a great representative who cared about the mission and those we serve, and I was eager to watch him grow with the organization.”
Mac was passionate about music and was a graduate of the USC Thorton School of Music. After his cancer spread, he was left unable to play piano or drums but was determined to find a way to continue his passion.
In early 2023, he worked on a piece of music he had written in college but never finished. Violinist Dan Myers helped with the piece, with Mac working on it from his hospital bed.
“The cancer had paralyzed him from the chest down, but he still had limited use of his right arm, and fingers on his left hand. Being right-handed, he would strap a stylus to his right hand, and he could punch letters and notes into his phone or iPad,” Gary recalled.
Pianist Ben Lewis and composer Oliver Schnee also helped Mac work on his song and recorded it at the iconic Sunset Sound in Los Angeles. The musicians helped Mac create more song and they eventually put together an album. The week the album went to press, Mac lost his battle with cancer.
Throughout Mac’s cancer struggles, his dad said he “never stopped living and learning, creating, and giving, and loving”. Writing on his Foundation’s page, Gary said: “He loved all our family. His wonderful sisters, Sophie and Ella and their children, and while I worked hard to manage the day-to-day medical care, his beautiful mother Moira was his constant companion. He loved her so. His grandmother, his aunts and uncles, his cousins, his brothers in law, his caregivers Lulu and Mimi. There are so many friends he loved and who loved him.”
