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Six months after he was diagnosed with dementia, Bruce Willis\u2019 wife Emma Heming Willis said it is \u201chard to know\u201d if the retired Hollywood star is aware of his medical condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m learning is that dementia is hard,\u201d Heming Willis said.<\/p>\n
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Emma Heming Willis shared this photo of her husband when she announced he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Instagram<\/cite><\/p>\n Willis, 68, retired from acting last year, and was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) six months ago. Heming Willis, who married Willis in 2009, described him as the \u201cgift that keeps on giving\u201d and said she has been a \u201ccare partner\u201d since his diagnosis.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard on the person diagnosed. It\u2019s also hard on the family,\u201d she told NBC Today<\/em> host Hoda Kotb. \u201cAnd that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. When they say that this is a family disease, it really is.\u201d<\/p>\n Willis has two daughters with Heming Willis. The Die Hard<\/em> star and veteran of more than 100 screen roles, also has three daughters from his previous marriage to actress Demi Moore.<\/p>\n Heming Willis said her husband\u2019s diagnosis was both a \u201cblessing and a curse\u201d and there were \u201cso many beautiful things happening in our lives\u201d since revealing his condition.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just really important for me to look up from the grief and the sadness so that I can see what is happening around us,\u201d she said. \u201cBruce would really want us to be in the joy of what is. He would really want that for me and our family.\u201d<\/p>\n Following his initial diagnosis with aphasia in 2022, Willis\u2019 family revealed his more specific diagnosis with FTD in February this year.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces,\u201d his family said. \u201cWhile this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis.\u201d<\/p>\n In March, Heming Willis made an emotional plea to paparazzi to stop yelling at her husband when he was out in public.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease don\u2019t be yelling at my husband asking him how he\u2019s doing or whatever \u2013 the woohoo-ing and the yippee ki yays \u2013 just don\u2019t do it, OK? Give him the space. Allow for our family or whoever\u2019s with him that day to be able to get him from point A to point B safely.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the Association of Frontotemporal Degeneration, there is no cure or treatment that can prevent its onset.<\/p>\n Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. <\/i><\/b>Get The Watchlist<\/i><\/b> delivered every Thursday.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nMost Viewed in Culture<\/h2>\n
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