Bruce Willis Wife Says Their Kids Are Aware Of His 'Declining' Health And Know He's 'Not Going To Get Better'
Bruce Willis' two daughters with his wife, Emma Heming Willis, were reportedly always aware of their father's "declining" health.
Bruce Willis' two daughters with his wife, Emma Heming Willis, were reportedly always aware of their father's "declining" health.
In a new interview, Heming revealed that she has made sure not to shield the little kids from the reality of Willis' disease, as it's not something to "sugarcoat."
Bruce Willis stepped away from Hollywood after his aphasia diagnosis, which was later confirmed to be frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Bruce Willis' Daughters Witnessed His Health 'Decline' Before He Was Diagnosed With Dementia
Heming has revealed that she has no intention to lie to her young daughters, Mabel,12, and Evelyn, 10, about their father Bruce's health.
The model told Town & Country Magazine that the kids witnessed the movie star's health "decline" before he was even diagnosed with dementia.
"I've never tried to sugarcoat anything for them. They've grown up with Willis declining over the years," Heming said. "I'm not trying to shield them from it."
Heming further noted Willis' disease is usually "misdiagnosed" and "misunderstood," noting that getting a proper diagnosis helped her learn what the actor was going through.
"Finally getting to a diagnosis was key," she shared, per Page Six, "so that I could learn what frontotemporal dementia is and I could educate our children."
Emma Heming Willis Says FTD 'Whispers' And Has No Obvious Signs At The Start
In her interview with the publication, Heming noted that the signs of Willis' dementia struggles weren't immediately obvious, noting that the disease "whispers."
She explained that the actor was initially diagnosed with aphasia in 2022 before it was finally confirmed the following year that the actor had frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
"I say that FTD whispers, it doesn't shout. It's hard for me to say, 'This is where Bruce ended, and this is where his disease started to take over,'" Heming said.
She added, "He was diagnosed two years ago, but a year prior we had a loose diagnosis of aphasia, which is a symptom of a disease but is not the disease."
Emma Heming Willis Says The Kids Know That 'Daddy's Not Going To Get Better'
While speaking about their kids being aware of the actor's health status, the model stated that she learned from their therapist "that if children ask questions, they're ready to know the answer."
Heming continued, "If we could see that Bruce was struggling, I would address it with the kids so they could understand, but this disease is chronic, progressive, and terminal. There is no cure."
She, however, stated that she does not talk about the "terminal side" of her husband's condition with their kids as they have yet to ask about his life expectancy.
"They know that Daddy's not going to get better," Heming added.
Bruce Willis' Wife Helps Raise Awareness For Frontotemporal Dementia
Since Willis' FTD diagnosis, Heming has made sure to use her voice to raise awareness for the disease and regularly attends seminars with experts and researchers in the field.
"I'm not going to allow FTD to take our whole family down. Bruce wouldn't want that," Heming said. "They're going to see me fight for our family, have some hope and help the next family out there."
According to the model, their family's openness about Willis' health condition led to an outpouring of love and support from people.
"I wanted them to see us come out with our family statement, and I get goosebumps thinking about it how it was received with so much love and compassion," Heming said. "We've been able to raise awareness on a global scale, and they could see the reach and impact that their father has. That's a beautiful thing."
Demi Moore Says Bruce Willis Is In A 'Stable Place'
Heming's remarks come after Willis' ex-wife, actress Demi Moore, shared a health update on the actor during an appearance on "The Drew Barrymore Show," where she noted that "given the givens, he is in a stable place."
The former couple were married between 1987 and 2000 and share three daughters: Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah. She also opened up about how she has advised her children to deal with the enduring family health crisis.
"What I say to my kids is you meet them where they're at," Moore said on the show. "You don't hold on to who they were or what you want them to be, but who they are in this moment."
"And from that, there is such beauty and joy and loving and sweetness. When I'm in L.A., I go over every week, and I really treasure the time that we all share," she added.
