In a brand new interview, Heming revealed that she has made sure to not shield the little kids from the truth of Willis’ disease, as it isn’t something to “sugarcoat.”
Bruce Willis stepped away from Hollywood after his aphasia diagnosis, which was later confirmed to be frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
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Bruce Willis’ Daughters Witnessed His Health ‘Decline’ Before He Was Diagnosed With Dementia
Heming has revealed that she has no intention to misinform her young daughters, Mabel,12, and Evelyn, 10, about their father Bruce’s health.
The model told Town & Country Magazine that the children 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 through the years,” Heming said. “I’m not attempting to shield them from it.”
Heming further noted Willis’ disease will likely be “misdiagnosed” and “misunderstood,” noting that getting a correct diagnosis helped her learn what the actor was going through.
“Finally attending to a diagnosis was key,” she shared, per Page Six, “in order that I could learn what frontotemporal dementia is and I could educate our youngsters.”
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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 next 12 months that the actor had frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
“I say that FTD whispers, it doesn’t shout. It’s hard for me to say, ‘That is where Bruce ended, and that is where his disease began to take over,'” Heming said.
She added, “He was diagnosed two years ago, but a 12 months prior we had a loose diagnosis of aphasia, which is a symptom of a disease but is just not the disease.”
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Emma Heming Willis Says The Kids Know That ‘Daddy’s Not Going To Get Higher’
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 able to know the reply.”
Heming continued, “If we could see that Bruce was struggling, I’d address it with the children in order that they could understand, but this disease is chronic, progressive, and terminal. There isn’t any cure.”
She, nonetheless, stated that she doesn’t talk concerning the “terminal side” of her husband’s condition with their kids as they’ve yet to ask about his life expectancy.
“They know that Daddy’s not going to recuperate,” Heming added.
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Bruce Willis’ Wife Helps Raise Awareness For Frontotemporal Dementia
Since Willis’ FTD diagnosis, Heming has made sure to make use of her voice to lift awareness for the disease and usually attends seminars with experts and researchers in the sphere.
“I’m not going to permit FTD to take our whole family down. Bruce would not want that,” Heming said. “They are going to see me fight for our family, have some hope and help the following family on the market.”
In keeping with the model, their family’s openness about Willis’ health condition led to an outpouring of affection and support from people.
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“I wanted them to see us come out with our family statement, and I get goosebumps interested by it the way it was received with a lot love and compassion,” Heming said. “We have been capable of raise awareness on a world scale, and so they could see the reach and impact that their father has. That is a gorgeous 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’s in a stable place.”
The previous 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 take care of 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 do not hold on to who they were or what you would like them to be, but who they’re on this moment.”
“And from that, there may be such beauty and joy and loving and sweetness. After I’m in L.A., I am going over every week, and I actually treasure the time that all of us share,” she added.
