Topics: Bruce Willis, Celebrity, Mental Health, Health
The wife of legendary actor Bruce Willis has spoken about a 'lifeline' she's discovered since his diagnosis with dementia.
The star of iconic movies such as Die Hard and The Sixth Sense was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), his family announced earlier this year.
FTD impacts the lobes of the brain and symptoms include personality changes and difficulty speaking.
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Willis' five daughters, his wife Emma Heming and his ex-wife Demi Moore posted a statement announcing the sad news following a previous diagnosis of aphasia in 2022.
His family said that while there is no cure they hope the increased attention on FTD will help raise awareness for the need for more research.
Since then, there have been updates on his condition from Heming and his children in their posts on social media, and Willis' wife has been open and honest about the toll her husband's dementia is taking on her as well.
She has said she is 'not good' as there is a great difficulty in staying strong for those around her, and has talked about the need for those caring for someone to look after themselves so they can look after those around them.
Heming has said it's 'hard to know' if her husband of 14 years is aware that he has dementia when she was talking about his diagnosis being 'the blessing and the curse' as she now fully understands what's happening to Willis even if that 'doesn't make it any less painful'.
Recently, Heming has been making content for World FTD Awareness Week, including for her YouTube channel Make Time to Connect.
On it, she interviewed the founders of the Remember Me podcast Maria Kent Beers and Rachael Martinez, both of whom were caregivers for a loved one with FTD.
Heming said their podcast had been a 'lifeline' in the days after her husband's diagnosis as she 'didn't know where to go, what to look up' and Remember Me helped her immensely.
She found she was 'so grateful to hear other people’s stories' from those who had gone through what she was going through
Heming said: "There’s nothing that levels the playing field like FTD.
"And I have made some of the greatest connections with other care partners, people like you who just get it – there doesn’t have to be so much explanation."
"You guys have been so helpful to me. I want to say thank you. I’m surprised I’m not crying because that’s where I go to when I think of people who have been that lifeline for me."
