Bruce Willis’ wife issues new health update on his dementia
Emma Heming Willis, the wife of actor Bruce Willis, has issued a health update on his dementia and said it’s “hard to know” whether he’s aware of his condition.
Heming Willis made the comments during a rare television appearance on the Today Show. The actor has been diagnosed with aphasia and dementia, which has affected the actor’s speech and movement, forcing his career into early retirement. Due to the nature of his illness, treatment isn’t simple, and earlier this year, his wife claimed “that options are slim”.
Speaking to host Hoda Kotb, Heming Willis heartbreakingly revealed: “What I’m learning is that 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.”
She continued: “The most important thing was to be able for us to say what the disease was, explain what it is. When you know what the disease is from a medical standpoint it sort of all makes sense. So it was important that we let them know what it is because I don’t want there to be any stigma or shame attached to their dad’s diagnosis or for any form of dementia.”
After being asked if he’s “aware of” his dementia, Heming Willis said she was unsure. However, she did add: “I think it was the blessing and the curse. You know, to sort of finally understand what was happening so that I can be into the acceptance of what is.”
Heming Willis also told the host: “It doesn’t make it any less painful, but just being in the acceptance and just being in the know of what happened to Bruce just makes it a little bit easier. There are so many beautiful things happening in our lives. It is just really important for me to look up from the grief and the sadness so that I can see what is happening around us.”
The couple share two young children with Heming Willis revealing he’s currently passing on his “love, patience, resilience” to the rest of the family. She also said appearing on television was outside of her comfort zone, but she agreed to participate as part of World Frontotemporal Dementia Awareness Week due to “the power of Bruce”.
Her latest comments arrive after his daughter Tallulah previously said of Willis’ condition: “My family announced in early 2022 that Bruce Willis was suffering from aphasia, a brain-mediated inability to speak or to understand speech, and we learned earlier this year that that symptom was a feature of frontotemporal dementia, a progressive neurological disorder that chips away at his cognition and behaviour day by day.”
Tallulhah continued: “It started out with a kind of vague unresponsiveness, which the family chalked up to Hollywood hearing loss: ‘Speak up! Die Hard messed with Dad’s ears.’ Later that unresponsiveness broadened, and I sometimes took it personally.”
Watch Heming Willis speak on the Today Show below.
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