Bruce Willis’ wife says he ‘doesn’t know’ he has dementia
Bruce Willis “doesn’t know” he has frontotemporal dementia, which his wife and caretaker Emma Heming Willis is “really happy” about.
During her appearance on Wednesday’s episode of the “Conversations with Cam” podcast, 47-year-old Heming Willis tells host Cameron Rogers that the “Die Hard” star, 70, “never tapped in” to an awareness of his condition.
“He never connected the dots that he has this disease. And I’m really happy about that. I’m really happy that he doesn’t know,” said “The Unexpected Journey” author, who married Willis in 2009.
Willis’ blended family — which includes his wife and their two young daughters, as well as ex-wife Demi Moore and their three adult daughters — announced in March 2022 that he was “stepping away” from acting, due to a diagnosis with aphasia. That condition affects a person’s ability to communicate.
By February 2023, Willis’ family revealed his diagnosis had been updated to frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The term applies to brain diseases primarily affecting the frontal and temporal lobes, which are associated with personality, behavior, and language, according to Mayo Clinic.
As for Willis’ awareness that he has the disease, Heming Willis mentioned anosognosia, which Mayo Clinic says is a condition that makes someone unable to “recognize other health conditions or problems” they may have.
“I think they think this is their normal. And it’s not for everybody,” said Heming Willis. “So, where people think this might be denial ’cause they don’t want to go to the doctor … actually this is the anosognosia that comes into play.”
She clarified that Willis is “still very much present in his body” and does still know who she and their daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11. That is “because he doesn’t have Alzheimer’s, he has FTD. So … he has a way of 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. … It’s just different. You just learn how to adapt.”
Heming Willis revealed in August that Willis is living with round-the-clock caregivers in a second home near the residence occupied by that of his young family.