Bruce Willis’ wife said she is “profoundly sad” as she shared a photo of the legendary actor and their daughter Evelyn. Emma Heming Willis has kept fans updated with the Die Hard star’s frontotemporal dementia (FTD) battle.
In February 2023, the family of Bruce announced the devastating news he had been diagnosed with dementia. Dementia is a general term for loss of memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities that are severe enough to interfere with daily life.
To mark Father’s Day yesterday, Emma shared a snap of the dad and daughter, Bruce’s face was partially hidden as he wore a cap. His daughter smiled at the camera as she rested her head on his shoulder and reached her arm over his chest.
A lengthy caption accompanied the post, with Emma saying: “Happy Father’s Day to all the dads living with disability or disease, showing up in the ways they can and to the children who show up for them. What Bruce teaches our girls goes far beyond words.
“Resilience, unconditional love, and the quiet strength in simply being present. This photo says so much. Love deepens. It adapts. It stays, even when everything else changes.”
Emma added that the “symbolic days stir up a lot”, before telling her social media followers “I’m profoundly sad today. I wish, with every cell in my body, that things could be different for him and lighter for our family.”
She continued: “As they say in our FTD community, “It is what it is.” And while that might sound dismissive, to me, it’s not. It grounds me. It helps me return to the acceptance of what is and not fight this every step of the way like I used to.”
The Die Hard star stepped away from acting in 2022, after being diagnosed with aphasia – a neurological disorder that impairs communication abilities. Bruce’s condition developed into a form of dementia called frontotemporal dementia, a rare and progressive brain disorder that affects the frontal and temporal lobes.
Earlier this year, the star’s daughter appeared on Loose Women via video link on February 3, where she discussed her dad’s health. She told panellists Kaye Adams and Judi Love “He’s doing great”, adding “My family, we’re all so close, I think what’s so beautiful is the way that we rally around each other, [it’s] so lovely, because we really are a unit.”
Rumer is the daughter of Bruce and Demi Moore, speaking about her parents, she said: “I think the thing I’m most grateful for is that even when they split up, they created such a beautiful foundation of prioritising my sisters and I, that I never felt like I had to choose or like, they never played against each other.”
“We were a family, and we still are very much a family no matter what. And not only did I feel like that has set me up in my life to have such a beautiful foundation of my own family, but now, as I’m working through co-parenting as well, I feel deep gratitude for the example they’ve set.” The couple spit in 1998.
In 2009, he tied the knot with model Emma Heming and the couple welcomed two girls Mabel Ray Willis, 13, and Evelyn Penn Willis. With Demi, Bruce shares Rumer Glenn Willis, 36, Scout LaRue Willis, 33, and Tallulah Belle Willis, 31.