Bruce Willis’ Wife Gives Heartbreaking Update on His Dementia Battle
Emma Heming Willis has revealed that she is uncertain whether her husband, Bruce Willis, is even aware of his health condition as he battles dementia.
She gave an update on the beloved star during an appearance on the Today show on Monday (September 25) alongside Susan Dickinson, the head of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD). Bruce, 68, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) earlier this year.
During the heartfelt conversation to raise awareness for World FTD Week, Emma discussed Bruce’s health, revealing to Today co-anchor Hoda Kotb that he may or may not be fully aware of his current situation.
“It’s hard to know,” she said. “It’s hard to know.”
“What I’m learning is that dementia is hard,” Emma said. “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 that this is a family disease, it really is.”
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) encompasses a group of brain disorders that primarily affect the frontal and temporal lobes, leading to atrophy in these regions. This can result in speech difficulties, emotional changes, personality alterations, and loss of motor skills such as walking, swallowing, and muscle spasms. Due to its impact on the frontal lobe, which governs self-awareness, individuals with FTD often lose their ability to recognize their own changes, as Dickinson on Today explains.
It was revealed in 2022 that Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia just one year after he was first diagnosed with aphasia, according to the Willis family. The news came from a joint statement from the family, including his wife and their two daughters, Maybel Ray, and Evelyn Penn, and his ex-wife, Demi Moore, and their three daughters, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah.
Emma likes to look at herself as more of a “care partner” than a “caretaker,” noting, “He is my partner, so I am his care partner.” As such, she says it’s important that she also takes care of herself as well.
“As a care partner, it’s so important to be able to ask for help and support. You can look to organizations like the AFTD like Hilarity for Charity — [which] is sort of a great starting point. It’s important for care partners to look after themselves so that they can be the best partner for the person that they’re caring for.”
“There’s so many beautiful things happening in our lives,” she added. “It’s just really important for me to look up from the grief and the sadness so that 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.”
See the full segment below.
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
Today, Week mornings, 7/6 c, NBC
