Who is Clare McCann and what happened to her son? GoFundMe raises more than $14K for cryogenic preservation bid

Australia-based actress Clare McCann is aiming to collect funds by the next seven days, to preserve the dead body of her son, Atreyu McCann. Notably, the GoFundMe page that has been created for the purpose informs that Atreyu died by suicide on May 23, 2025, after dealing with the consequences of bullying at his school.

Times Now stated that Clare has also been active as a filmmaker and journalist at the same time. Furthermore, she addressed 13-year old Atreyu’s struggle with mental health and institutional failures over the years on certain occasions.

The description of Clare McCann’s GoFundMe page says that she wants to preserve her son’s body through a cryogenic process and is collecting $300,000 for it. She addressed the same by saying:

“We have only one chance left to cryogenically preserve his body within the next 7 days. If we miss this window, we lose the chance for any future revival that since may offer. This is about hope and justice. Refusing to let my son’s story end in silence.”

Clare McCann wrote that the funds accumulated through the page would be used for the necessary medical and legal services needed for the process of cryopreservation and the formation of a trust to preserve the legacy of Atreyu.

Clare said that she had been aiming to start a campaign to create awareness on anti-bullying. Besides, she has also talked about taking legal action against the institution that she believes could not save her son, and supporting the families that have been impacted in the same manner.

McCann stated that her son had been dealing with bullying for several months at his school and added:

“I had begged the school, the Department of Education, and Children’s Services to intervene. I have medical records, psychologist reports, a formal PTSD diagnosis from his doctor, and emails proving I raised the alarm repeatedly. But nothing was done. No one stepped on. And now, my beautiful boy is gone.”

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Clare McCann opened up on her son’s battle with bullying: Clare’s career and other details

According to Sundance Collab, McCann developed an interest in acting at a young age and received multiple scholarships as a school student. She also served as a choreographer for the stage shows at her school, emerging as a winner of competitions like The Tournament of the Minds.

Clare McCann also joined ACE’s MASQUE, where she studied music theatre and was cast as Cherry in a comedy show, Blog Party, which aired on Channel V. She eventually began pursuing her career as a singer, going on tours with artists such as Havana Brown, and later joined a company called Marquee Sydney, where she was a Creative Director.

Clare has a short film titled Mirror Girl in her credits as a director. It was selected for the Sci-Fi Film Festival, following which she directed a feature film, Benefited.

Clare McCann announced the news of her son's tragic passing on Instagram around a week ago with a photo of her child. Clare said that Atreyu was the “brightest light” in her world and requested privacy while she mourned the loss of her son.

On May 27, 2025, Clare posted a video on the same platform, where Atreyu was spotted singing. Clare McCann wrote in the caption that her son was practising the song for an audition before she pulled him out of school. She further stated:

“I wish I hadn’t trusted the promises of the teachers that they would handle it. I wish I knew what he was going through in those last weeks. I thought he was getting better. I know now he was in so much pain. He was only in school across two months time. He spent half of it at home recovering from the stress of all the bullying.”

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Meanwhile, the GoFundMe page, launched by a woman named Scarlett Wathen, has accumulated funds of more than $15,000 as of the time of writing.