Bruce Willis' daughter Rumer issues emotional health update on actor's dementia
Rumer Willis answered a fan's question about how her dad Bruce Willis is doing during an Instagram Q&A today (21 November)
Rumer Willis has issued an emotional update on her dad Bruce Willis' health, admitting that he doesn't recognise her sometimes.
The 70-year-old Die Hard actor's family revealed in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) - an uncommon type of dementia that causes problems with behaviour and language and affects both the front and sides of the brain.
It came after another blow to his health in 2022 when it was revealed he had aphasia - a different health condition that affects a person's communication skills and cognitive abilities.
Since then, the actor's family - including his wife Emma Heming Willis whom he shares two daughters with, Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, as well as his ex-wife Demi Moore, and their children, Rumer, 37, Tallulah, 31, and Scout, 34 - have been keeping fans updated and working hard to raise awareness about the condition.
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Today (21 November), American actress Rumer took to social media to give fans a candid update on how she's getting on during the difficult time, as well as her famous dad.
During an Instagram Q&A session, the mother-of-one answered a question from a fan which asked how her dad is doing.
She explained: "People always ask me this question and I think it's kind of a hard one to answer because the truth is that anybody with FTD is not doing great. But he's doing okay in terms of somebody who's dealing with frontotemporal dementia."
After a pause, Rumer added: "The answer that I would give is that I'm so happy and grateful that I still get to go and hug him.
"I'm so grateful that when I go over there, and I give him a hug, whether he recognises me or not, that he can feel the love I've given him, and I can feel it back from him.
"That I still see a spark of him, and he can feel the love that I'm giving."
She continued: "So that feels really nice. I just feel grateful that I get to go over there with Louetta and we get to spend time with him, and I get to feel the love that he has for me, and that I can love him and be with him."
For those not in the loop, Louetta is Rumer's two-year-old daughter, whom she shares with her ex-boyfriend, singer Derek Richard Thomas.
It comes after Bruce's wife Emma, 47, was interviewed by Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America in August for a special called Emma and Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey.
She said during the chat: "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 said, adding that he still has a noticeable connection with his five daughters.
The model said that The Sixth Sense star is 'reciprocating' attention from his family adding: "He's holding our hands. We're kissing him. We're hugging him."
"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."
Topics: Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Celebrity, Health, Instagram
Madison Burgess