Bruce Willis’ wife has revealed she won’t “shield” their daughters from the realities of his dementia.
Emma Heming Willis refuses to “sugarcoat” the reality of her husband’s dementia and believes their young daughters are better off knowing the truth.
Bruce, 69, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) last year, after having been diagnosed with aphasia, or loss of language, the year prior. He and Emma, 46, share Mabel Ray, 12, and Evelyn, 10.
“This disease is misdiagnosed, it’s missed, it’s misunderstood, so finally getting to a diagnosis was key so that I could learn what frontotemporal dementia is and I could educate our children. I’ve never tried to sugarcoat anything for them,” Emma told Town & Country in an interview published this week. “They’ve grown up with Bruce declining over the years. I’m not trying to shield them from it.”
She explained that their family therapist had advised against masking reality for children.
“What I learned from our therapist was that if children ask questions, they’re ready to know the answer,” Emma said. “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.”
However, Emma added she had not openly talked to the girls about the fact Bruce’s diagnosis is terminal.
“Obviously, I don’t like to speak about the terminal side of this with them, nor have they asked,” she said. “They know that Daddy’s not going to get better.”
