By Gabrielle Gillen
Gary Sinise shares with Movieguide® his emotional journey caring for his son, Mac, when he was diagnosed with chordoma, a rare form of cancer that affects only 300 patients in the U.S. each year.
“Our son started to have pain in his tailbone,” Sinise recalled during his conversation with Movieguide®’s Robby Baehr and Jeremy Carroll. “We thought it was a bruise or a fracture or something. And he endured that pain for a number of years.”
Eventually, doctors discovered a tumor at the base of Mac’s spine.
“It was a big tumor,” Sinise says. “And 70% of the time… they can go in and take it out and there’s no recurrence — it doesn’t come back. Thirty percent of the time it comes back and spreads. And we got dealt that card.”
But Mac wasn’t the type to sit back and let life happen to him. When faced with the possibility that his chordoma may return, he found Josh Sommer, a researcher searching for a cure. Mac volunteered to help him, and their efforts resulted in the founding of the Chordoma Foundation, which today aids thousands of chordoma patients worldwide.
“He taught himself everything he could possibly teach himself about chordoma,” Sinise shared about his son. “I mean, he’s like a medical guy who never went to medical school. And he’s a brilliant young guy.”
Despite their efforts, more tumors formed on Mac’s spine, resulting in five more operations. Despite the constant pain, Mac still had a fighting spirit. Over four and a half years, he tried 24 different drugs in the search to find one that may stop the cancer’s growth. Sinise said, “I became, like, my son’s battle buddy…I was living with him in the hospitals. I was dealing with the doctors.”
As the cancer spread, Mac lost the ability to walk, the tumors growing so large that it paralyzed him from the chest down. But through it all, he was a beacon of light: “Mac was the biggest blessing of all because of the way that he dealt with it.”
Related: Gary Sinise Announces Completion of Late Son’s Musical Project
Sinise dedicated himself to being there for Mac. He stopped his acting career in 2019, limiting himself to one flexible TV show and concerts for the Gary Sinise Foundation. “I just wanted to help Mac as much as I could,” the actor said. “I wanted him to have as many good days as possible.”
It was one of the most challenging times of Sinise’s life, but he constantly thanks God for the blessings they had to keep them going.
In Mac’s final year, he made two albums: Resurrection & Revival, Parts 1 and 2. He passed away two months after his 33rd birthday.
“It’s a sad story, you know?” Sinise said emotionally. “But the way Mac dealt with it so gracefully, and the smiles that I saw on his face in the hospital those last days when he showed people the videos on his phone of his music…that’s priceless.”
Mac lives on through his music, with his albums at point among the Top 10 most downloaded records in the U.S. on iTunes. All proceeds from his vinyl records go to the Gary Sinise Foundation, as per Mac’s request. “He continues to help us help our service members,” Sinise shared. “And that’s a beautiful blessing.”
Mac was a light to everyone who knew him, with his resilience and bravery in the face of cancer. His work in chordoma research, his music and his fighting spirit continue to inspire today.
Gary and Mac’s journey is a bittersweet testament to resilience and the unshakeable love a father has for his son.
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