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Gary Sinise ‘Blessed’ to Have Support Following His Son’s Death

Gary Sinise ‘Blessed’ to Have Support Following His Son’s Death

By Movieguide® Contributor

Gary Sinise is thanking people for their messages of support following his son’s death in January. 

“We’re doing okay,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s tough.”

Sinise’s son Mac was diagnosed with chordoma, a form of cancer, in 2018. 

“I had never heard of [it],” the actor said. “It’s a rare, rare cancer. This is the kind of slow-going tumor…it could’ve been there since birth.”

According to the National Cancer Institute, “Worldwide, one in one million people are diagnosed with chordoma per year.”

In addition to Mac’s battle with cancer, Sinise’s family also faced another struggle — his wife Moira was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer shortly before Mac’s diagnosis. 

“There was a really stormy period, where my dad had a stroke, and my wife had multiple spine surgeries and then she got diagnosed with cancer, and then my son got diagnosed with cancer a couple months later — I was just like, ‘God, what’s going on? What’s happening? Because this is challenging,’” Sinise explained. “But, you know, I’ve got to tell you, I’ve seen so many families go through really difficult, difficult things in the military over the years. Having seen so much of that prepared me really well to just say, ‘You can’t let this paralyze you. You have to fight.’”

The actor also took a moment to thank supporters for their messages, saying that it has helped his family “in a profound way.”

“I just want to say, to everybody who wrote in to the Gary Sinise Foundation, that wrote to me, sent us well wishes — thank you. You have no idea how much it has helped our family to get through it,” Sinise said. “This has been a really challenging time, but we are blessed. We’ve had so much support.”

In a statement sharing the news of his son’s passing, Sinise praised Mac’s courage and spirit. 

“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,” Sinise 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.”

He continued, “We were blessed to have you in our lives as son, brother, and friend…and we will miss you and love you for eternity.”

Movieguide® previously reported on how Mac’s faith helped him through his cancer battle:

Actor, producer and veterans advocate Gary Sinise recently spoke about his late son Mac’s legacy and how his faith helped him through his difficult battle with cancer.

Mac died on Jan. 5 of this year at the age of 33 due to a rare cancer called chordoma. Sinise shared how, shortly before he was diagnosed with cancer, Mac found comfort in his faith.

“It was Bishop Robert Baron who confirmed Mac into the [Catholic] Church in 2017,” Sinise said. “This was probably 14 months before he was diagnosed with cancer. The Church and his faith…became such a big part of his life.”


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