Anish Vij
Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing
Hollywood actor Gary Sinise made an emotional announcement after his son died from a rare cancer at the age of 33.
The Forrest Gump star, 70, was forced to put his career on pause after his wife, Moira, and son Mac were diagnosed with cancer in 2019.
Mac was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer, just two months after Moira was given a breast cancer diagnosis. Although Moira managed to survive stage three breast cancer and was declared cancer-free, Mac sadly passed away in January 2024.
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"He died on January 5, 2024 at 3:25pm, and was laid to rest on January 23rd," Sinise said in a statement shared on the Gary Sinise Foundation website.
"Like any family experiencing such a loss, we are heartbroken and have been managing as best we can… I am so blessed, fortunate, and proud to be his dad."
In a recent interview with People, Sinise said Mac suffered from a type of bone cancer known as chordoma, which affects just 300 people in the US each year.
Chordoma are cancerous tumours that develop in the supporting tissues of the body, such as in the bone, cartilage, tendons, fat and muscle.
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“It looked like a monster grabbing my son’s spine,” the actor said of the MRI scan. “It was a one-two punch.”
Sinise said he stopped acting in 2020 so he could put 'everything I had into trying to find a miracle for Mac'.
He explained: “I didn’t want Mac to be thinking of the next treatment or to worry. So I thought about cancer all the time.
“You’re trying to take the pain away. A few times I felt like I couldn’t do enough, or I didn’t know what to do. Then you say a little prayer, get back up and go back into the fight.”
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On the idea of returning to acting after the death of his son, Sinise admitted: “Something may come along and it’ll be right, but it’s harder to leave home now.
“I just want to be around family. Since losing Mac, I hold my daughters a lot tighter. You think about the things that are really important.”
Such a tragedy 'can destroy you or it can make you come together', the actor said, adding: "We pulled together quite a lot."
"He kept wanting to stay. He didn't want to go. But I know Mac was at peace at the end. He dealt with it with grace and courage," he said of his late son.
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If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.