Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, has opened up about the actor’s struggles with frontotemporal dementia, revealing that he is unaware he has the condition.
The Die Hard star retired from acting in 2022 due to aphasia (a condition that affects the ability to communicate), and two years on from his dementia diagnosis. In 2023, it was announced the condition had developed into frontotemporal dementia.
Discussing his relationship to the condition, Heming Willis said the nature of it means that those suffering from it are often unaware something is wrong.
She told The Unexpected Journey podcast: “They think this is their normal. There is this neurological condition that comes with FTD and other types of dementia that’s called anosognosia, where your brain can’t identify what is happening to it. Where people think this might be denial, like where they don’t want to go to the doctor because ‘I’m fine.’”
She continued: “It’s actually… this is the anosognosia that comes into play… Bruce never tapped in. He never connected the dots that he had this disease. I’m really happy about that. I’m really happy he doesn’t know about it.”
Regarding their relationship, she said: “He is still very much present in his body… when someone says to me, ‘Does Bruce still know who you are?’ Yes he does, because he doesn’t have Alzheimer’s he has FTD. He has a way with connecting with me, our children, that might not be the same as you would connect with your loved one but it’s still very beautiful and meaningful. It’s just different. You just learn how to adapt.”
In June, Bruce Willis‘ daughter Tallulah hit back at critics who claimed she shouldn’t be posting pictures of her father on social media. “As a family we use our discretion when posting,” she said after receiving criticism for sharing a picture of the actor on his 70th birthday. “Today was a great day filled with smiles.”
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