Bruce Willis’ Wife Doesn’t Know If Actor Is Aware Of His Illness As She Speaks Out On Dementia Diagnosis
Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, has opened up about her husband’s dementia diagnosis.
The Die Hard star, 68, is one of Hollywood’s biggest actors and is known for his role in films such as Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense and Armageddon.
Sadly, it was announced that Willis was retiring from acting after his family revealed that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
While the Red star has stepped away from the spotlight and his battle with the condition has largely remained private, members of his family – including his daughters and ex-wife Demi Moore – have given scattered updates about Willis.
And now his wife, who he married in 2009, has shed more light on his health.
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Speaking on the Today Show as part of World Frontotemporal Dementia Awareness Week (September 24 – October 1), Heming Willis described the condition as a ‘family disease’ due to the impact it has had on those around him.
The 45-year-old explained: “Dementia is hard, it’s hard on the person diagnosed, it’s also hard on the family.
“And that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. When they say this is a family disease, it really is.”
When asked if her husband was aware of his condition, the model said that it is ‘hard to know’.
“I think it was the blessing and the curse, to finally understand what was happening, so I can be into the acceptances of what it is,” Heming Willis continued.
“It doesn’t make it any less painful but just being in the acceptance, and being in the know of what is happening to Bruce, makes it a little bit easier.”
Exclusive: In honor of World Frontotemporal Dementia Awareness week, Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming Willis speaks to @hodakotb about the condition in her first interview since his diagnosis.
“It was the blessing and the curse,” Emma said of receiving Bruce’s diagnosis. pic.twitter.com/VY5yhVjZIf
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 25, 2023
Discussing how she and their loved ones have adjusted their life since his diagnosis, Heming Willis, who describes herself as a ‘care partner’, added: “We’re a very honest and open household.
“The most important thing was to be able to say what the disease was, explain what it is because when you know when the disease is from a medical standpoint, it all makes sense.
“I don’t want there to be any stigma or shame attached to their dad’s diagnosis, or for any form of dementia.”
Willis is a father to five daughters: Rumer, 35, Scout, 32, Tallulah, 29, Mabel Ray, 11, and Evelyn Penn, 8.
The actor shares his three adult children with his ex-wife Moore, who he was previously married to between 1987 and 2000.
He shares his two youngest daughters with Heming Willis.
The blended family has a tight-knit bond and they spend a lot of time together in light of Willis’ condition.
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Elsewhere in the interview, Heming Willis explained that it is important for the family to ‘look up from the grief’ and continue life as ‘so many beautiful things’ have happened in their lives – including the Unbreakable star becoming a grandfather for the first time.
She added: “There are so many beautiful things happening in our lives. It’s really important for me to look up from the grief, and the sadness, so I can see what is happening around us.
“Bruce would really want us to be in the joy of what is. He would really want that for me, and our family.
“He’s the gift that keeps on giving. Love, patience, resilience… For me to be out here, doing this, this is not my comfort zone. But this is the power of Bruce.”
