Gary Sinise’s son, McCanna Anthony, dies at 33

Los Angeles [US], February 28 (ANI): American actor Gary Sinise’s son, McCanna Anthony ‘Mac’ Sinise, has died, People reported.

He was 33.

Gary announced Mac’s death in a statement posted on Instagram on Tuesday late night, saying he died of cancer on January 5.

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On August 8, 2018, the actor revealed that Mac had been diagnosed with a very rare cancer called Chordoma. The disease originates in the spine and affects approximately 300 people in the United States each year, he noted.

The ‘Forrest Gump’ star noted that Mac’s illness occurred just months after his wife Moira Harris was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer.

While Moira went into remission and has been cancer-free since therapy, Gary stated that Mac’s condition spread over time and disabled him more and more as time went on.

Mac’s diagnosis occurred three months after he began working as an assistant manager of education and outreach for the Gary Sinise Foundation, a charity that helps military members, veterans, first responders, and their families, according to Gary. Mac was also “an exceptional drummer” who performed with his father’s Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band, according to Gary.

Mac was a University of Southern California graduate who studied songwriting and composition in addition to drumming. Gary wrote that he had five consecutive spine surgeries between 2018 and 2020 and that the disease’s impact on his body caused him to become paralysed from the chest down. Despite these constraints, Mac and numerous colleagues recorded an album called Resurrection & Revival. Gary stated that his son died the same week the album went to press.

“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,” Gary wrote in a statement.

“My heart goes out to all who have suffered a similar loss, and to anyone who has lost a loved one. 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 1/2 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 added. “He fought an uphill battle against a cancer that has no cure, but he never quit trying.”

Sinise stated that he first spoke publicly about Mac’s sickness in a December 2023 interview with Fox News, when he highlighted the songs Mac worked on in the closing months of his life, as per People.

“Mac was living out a dream, bringing it to reality with his collaborating partner, Oliver,” Gary wrote. “It was incredibly motivating and therapeutic for him, and he was so excited to see it all come together.”

Mac is survived by his parents, Gary and Moira, his sisters Sophie and Ella and their children, as well as his grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers-in-law, and carers Lulu and Mimi, Gary stated in his announcement. Gary also stated that the family is sure that Mac’s record, Mac Sinise: Resurrection and Revival, be released and pressed on vinyl.