Bruce Willis' wife says they have developed their 'own language' as she opens up on changes as his dementia progresses
Bruce Willis' wife has revealed the new way the couple lives after her decision to move him to a separate home that accommodates his needs.
Willis announced his retirement from acting in 2022 after he was diagnosed with aphasia.
Sadly, it then developed into frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which impacts behaviour, personality and language.
Having provided numerous updates on his health, the 70-year-old's wife, Emma Heming Willis, recently revealed she decided to move Willis into a separate home so that his needs could be better catered to.
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During an interview with Good Morning America, Heming Willis said she 'knew' moving her husband into a separate home would spark a backlash online, but it was 'the safest and best decision' for both Willis and their young daughters - Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11.
"It's really not up for a debate," she told host Michael Strahan. "Now I know that Bruce has the best care 100% of the time. His needs are met 100% of the time, as well as our two young daughters'.
"So I'm not gonna take a vote on that."
In light of Willis living separately from his family, Heming Willis has shared the difference it has made, stating that she’s now able to 'get back to being his wife' instead of his carer.
The couple have been married for 16 years, and two of those years have included Willis’s dementia diagnosis.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, she said: “But among the sadness and discomfort, it was the right move -for him, for our girls, for me. Ultimately, I could get back to being his wife. And that's such a gift.”
she added that her husband has more independence now that they are living apart, and she can step back and stop ‘hovering’.
She said: “It's made such a difference for more friends and family to have their own experience with him without it being my home, without me hovering, or my anxiety of how to manage the guest and their expectations, and then have to see their reactions - their sadness at what is.”
She went on to say their daughters visit him after school and sit on his lap, but while they have ‘adapted to his disease,’ the kids ‘miss him’.
As for how her relationship with Willis has changed, she said they 'now have our own language, our own way to be with each other.'
During the ABC special, she explained: “Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is in really great health overall, you know. It's just his brain that is failing him.”
She added: “We have a way of communicating with him that is just different, a different way, but I'm grateful. I'm grateful that my husband is still very much here.”
She said her husband’s behavioural challenges were explained by his diagnosis, but when she was told that carers often die before their loved one, she knew she had to make some changes.
Feeling like she wasn’t getting much support, she reached out to others in similar situations.
“I was grateful to get to a diagnosis, but there is no cure for this disease, and being sent on our way with no support, no nothing was really traumatic,” she admitted. “It's not just happening to us. This is how many people are receiving their diagnosis.”
“Early on I was too scared to say anything to anyone. It felt like what was happening was only happening to us,” she said. “I realised it would be beneficial to talk about it and raise awareness so people get to the doctor sooner, can be diagnosed sooner, get into clinical trials.”
Her perspective change shaped her new book, The Unexpected Journey, as she said: “I wrote the book that I wish someone had handed me on the day we received the diagnosis.”
Topics: Bruce Willis, Celebrity, Health
Britt Jones