The 'CSI: NY' star honored his late son with a message on his foundation's website.
Gary Sinise's son, McCanna 'Mac' Sinise, has died. He was 33.
On Tuesday, the Gary Sinise Foundation took to its official Instagram account to share a picture of Mac with the caption, "In Honor & Memory of McCanna 'Mac' Sinise 1990-2024."
In a message shared on the Gary Sinise Foundation website, the CSI: NY star revealed that his son, affectionately known as Mac, died on Jan. 5, 2024, following a five-and-a-half year battle with a rare form of cancer called Chordoma.
"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," Sinise wrote. "We've all experienced it in some way. Over the years I have met so many families of our fallen heroes. 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."
The message continued, "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."
The Forrest Gump star revealed that Mac was diagnosed with the cancer in 2018 -- the same year his wife, Moira, was diagnosed with breast cancer. While Moira recovered, the rare form of cancer forced Mac to have five spinal surgeries, and ultimately rendered him paralyzed from the chest down.
In addition to sharing the kind words of his son's condition, Sinise included a series of pictures of Mac doing the things he loved including playing the drums, creating his album and doing work within the organization.
Sinise revealed that Mac completed a full album before his death. In the year before he died, Mac taught himself how to play the harmonica and teamed up with a friend from school to complete his album, Mac Sinise: Resurrection and Revival.
Sinise revealed that by sharing his family's private battle, he hoped to shed a light on all of the work his son did prior to his death within the Gary Sinise Foundation and celebrate how much love he had for everyone around him.
"In sharing our story, we hope to shine a little bit of light on what has been a difficult time for us as Mac was truly a light for all of us," he wrote. "An incredible inspiration to those who knew and loved him, he faced his battle with grace, courage, and love. Even with one setback after another, he never stopped living and learning, creating, and giving, and loving. 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."
He continued, "Thank you, Mac. You did it. Resurrection & Revival will live on. And so will you. In our hearts forever. We were blessed to have you in our lives as son, brother, and friend...and we will miss you and love you for eternity. -Gary Sinise Proud father of Mac Sinise."
Mac is survived by his parents and two sisters.
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