Bruce Willis' Wife Emma Heming Slams 'Narrative' on Couple's Life Since Dementia Diagnosis
Heming assured followers that life with Willis still has moments of profound joy since his dementia diagnosis.
Emma Heming Willis admitted that she felt "triggered" on Sunday when she read a headline about herself and her husband, Bruce Willis. Willis was diagnosed with dementia in February of 2023, and this weekend Heming came across a headline that insinuated they have had no joy in their lives since he got sick. She assured her followers that is far from the truth.
"It's Sunday morning and I'm triggered," Heming said bluntly in the video. "I just got clickbaited. I'm just scrolling, minding my own business, and just saw a headline and got clickbaited that had to do with my own family. The headline basically says that there is no more joy in my husband. Now, I can just tell you, that is far from the truth." While Heming didn't appreciate being the subject of this kind of gossip, she was also concerned about how this would influence other readers who might be dealing with similar conditions.
"I need society – and whoever's writing these stupid headlines – to stop scaring people," she said. "Stop scaring people to think that once they get a diagnosis of some kind of neurocognitive disease that – that's it. 'It's over. Let's pack it up. We're -- Nothing else to see here. We're done.' No. There is grief and sadness. There's all of that. But you start a new chapter."
Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, or FTD. According to Mayo Clinic, this condition primarily affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain and can noticeably change a patient's personality, behavior and speech. However, Heming said that their marriage has adapted to those changes. She said that this new chapter is still filled "with love, it's filled with connection, it's filled with joy, it's filled with happiness."
In the caption, Heming went on to say that people should trust "experience" over "opinion" when it comes to neurocognitive disease. She also emphasized that her family's experience has not been completely joyful, but it has not been completely miserable either. She wrote: "My experience is that two things can be true and exist at the same time. Grief and deep love. Sadness and deep connection. Trauma and resilience."
Heming and Willis married in 2009 and now have two daughters together – 11-year-old Mabel Ray and 9-year-old Evelyn Penn. Heming is Willis' full-time caretaker, though his ex-wife Demi Moore and adult daughters Rumor, Scout and Tallulah are also involved. Fans curious about the actor's condition can follow Heming for frequent updates.
0comments