Bruce Willis' Wife Makes Vulnerable Admission About His Youngest Daughters Watching Him 'Declining'
Emma Heming Willis, Bruce Willis' wife and the mother of his youngest daughters, is opening up about the devastating observations their children have made as his health has "declin[ed]" over the last several years.
In a new interview with Katie Couric for Town & Country, the mother of two offered some vulnerable insight into the relationship Mabel, 14, and Evelyn, 10, have with their father's diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), telling the journalist that the two have "grown up with Bruce declining over the years" and that she's never tried to "sugarcoat" his health or "shield them" from what was going on.
It's "hard" for her to put a specific timeline on when things started to change, describing symptoms as "whispers," rather than "shout[s]."
"It’s hard for me to say, 'This is where Bruce ended, and this is where his disease started to take over," she said, explaining that when the Die Hard star first began experiencing symptoms of aphasia, which, in and of itself is a symptom of FTD, they thought it was related to his history of "a severe stutter."
"Bruce has always had a stutter, but he has been good at covering it up," she continued. "As his language started changing, it [seemed like it] was just a part of a stutter, it was just Bruce."
Because FTD is so often "misdiagnosed...missed...misunderstood," finally getting the diagnosis about two years ago "was key" for Heming Willis to be able to learn about what was going on with the family patriarch so she "could educate [their] children."
With the help of the family's therapist, she learned that "if children ask questions, they’re ready to know the answer."
"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 explained. While she tries not to "speak about the terminal side of this with them, nor have they asked," the kids do know that Willis won't "get better."
But while they have to witness his decline, they also get to "see [their mom] fight for [their] family, have some hope, and help the next family out there." While it's "not the opportunity" Heming Willis chose for herself, she has taken it on with strength, ensuring that her daughters get to "see the reach and impact that their father has."
"That’s a beautiful thing," she concluded.
Next: Emma Heming Willis Defends Husband Bruce From Claims He Has ‘No More Joy’ Amid Health Battle