Featured Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Topics: Celebrity, Mental Health, TV And Film, Bruce Willis
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Celebrity, Mental Health, TV And Film, Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis' wife, Emma Heming Willis, has opened up about the 'hardest decision' she had to make following his dementia diagnosis.
In 2022, Willis' family gave a statement regarding the 70-year-old's health, sharing his diagnosis with aphasia, which is a condition that affects a person's communication skills and cognitive abilities.
Then, in 2023, they revealed that he'd been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, which, according to the NHS, is a rare type of the condition that affects the front and sides of a person's brain, impacting their language abilities and behaviour.
The Die Hard star's family has shared tidbits about his life since then and has been working hard to raise awareness about the condition.
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Willis' wife has also spoken about it when interviewed by Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America on Tuesday (August 26).
In the interview, Emma shared: "Bruce is in really great health overall, you know. It's just his brain that is failing him.
"The language is going, and, you know, we've learned to adapt. And we have a way of communicating with him, which is just a different, a different way."
She went on to add that she 'knows' her husband, whom she married back in 2009, can still recognise her.
"I know he does. You know, when we are with him... he lights up," she continued, adding that he still has a noticeable connection with his five daughters, two of whom he shares with Emma, and three with his ex-wife, Demi Moore.
The model said that The Sixth Sense star is 'reciprocating' attention from her and his children, adding: "He's holding our hands. We're kissing him. We're hugging him."
She continued: "And so that's all I need, you know? I don't need him to know that I am his wife, and we were married on this day, and this is what it — I don't need any of that. I just wanna feel that I have a connection with him. And I do."
As well as opening up about his personality changes and her reaction to his dementia diagnosis, Emma also spoke about the 'hardest' decision she had to make involving her husband's care.
Emma explained that she began to isolate their family unit and stopped hosting social gatherings at their home for their two daughters, Mabel and Evelyn, because noise could cause Willis' agitation.
"I didn’t know if parents would feel comfortable leaving their kid at our home," she continued. "I isolated our whole family, and that was by design... That was a hard time."
She went on to share 'one of the hardest decisions I've had to make' which was moving her beloved husband into a second, one-story home where he could receive around-the-clock care.
Emma assured that, despite no longer living together, she spends breakfast and dinner with Willis every day.
Next month, her book The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope and Yourself on the Caregiving Path is expected to be released on 9 September, as well as a documentary series titled Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey being released on Hulu and Disney+ today (27 August).