‘Worst nightmare': Aussie actress Clare McCann reveals son's tragic death

News.com.au

25-05-2025

Australian actress Clare McCann has given her fans a devastating update, revealing the passing of her 13-year-old son, Atreyu.
McCann, 32, announced the heartbreaking news on Instagram yesterday, and in further updates, she revealed that her son, a budding child actor, had died by suicide on Friday which she says was caused by 'brutal' school bullying.
'It's with shattered hearts that we share the passing of my beautiful son, Atreyu McCann. He was the brightest light in my world — kind, creative, and endlessly loved,' McCann wrote on Instagram yesterday, sending shockwaves among her 62,000-strong following.
'Right now, we are grieving a loss that words can't hold. Please give us time and space as we process this unimaginable pain.'
McCann is best known for her roles in the noughties Channel [V] shows Blog Party and Clublife and as an organiser of the Sydney international Women's Film Festival.
She's also a regular on the Sydney social circuit, often bringing her son with her to red carpet premieres for new movies and theatrical productions.
She gave further harrowing details of Atreyu's death in another Instagram post shared overnight, describing the situation as her 'worst nightmare.'
'It breaks my heart beyond what words can compare to share that in a moment of unbearable pain Atreyu took his own life. This was not his fault,' she wrote.
McCann said her son had 'suffered horrendous amounts of bullying' and asked her followers to 'help preserve' his life.
To that end, McCann has also set up a GoFundMe account with an unusual purpose: To 'cryogenically preserve' her son's body in the unlikely hope he could one day be brought back to life.
The GoFundMe states that Atreyu 'tragically took his own life' and that his mother is 'urgently raising $300,000 to cryogenically preserve his body within the next 7 days — or the opportunity for him to live again will be lost forever,' she wrote.
At the time of writing, the GoFundMe has raised $2,335 against its $300,000 goal.
McCann states that every dollar raised will go toward 'immediate cryopreservation and legal transportation, required medical and legal services for the procedure' and 'a trust in [Atreyu's] name to protect his legacy. She says that any funds raised above the $300,000 goal will go towards anti-bullying education and reform.
Australia's first cryonics facility, Southern Cyronics, opened for business in Holbrook last year, making headlines last May when a man in his 80s who had died in a Sydney hospital became the first 'patient' to be frozen at the facility in the hopes of being one day revived via future technological advancements.