Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming on moving actor into separate home
Bruce Willis’ wife has discussed her “hard decision” on moving the actor out of the family home as he battles dementia, insisting it’s what he would want.
Emma Heming — who married Willis in 2009 — moved the Die Hard star into a separate home as he deteriorated following an aphasia diagnosis in 2022.
“Bruce would want that for our daughters,” Heming explained of Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, on Emma and Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey – A Diane Sawyer Special.
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Heming said that her kids still get to see their 70-year-old dad at his second house, which is not far from theirs, “a lot” of the time.
Heming also brings Mabel and Evelyn over for breakfast and dinner visits.
Willis — who is also the father of Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31, with ex-wife Demi Moore — is in the house with a full-time care team.
Heming made the revelation while promoting her upcoming memoir, The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope and Yourself on the Caregiving Path, which is set to be released on September 9.
In the book, she documents Willis’ health struggles, which became public in 2022 when the Golden Globe winner retired from acting.
According to the Australian Aphasia Association, the debilitating condition affects a person’s language and communication but does not affect intelligence.
People living with aphasia can have difficulty understanding what others say, write, read and use gestures and numbers.
In 2023, Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a progressive neurological disorder characterised by language problems, behavioural changes and mobility issues.
Heming told viewers that Willis’ family and friends now have a “different way” of communicating with him as his language skills decline.
In the rare update, she said: “Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is in really great health overall, it’s just his brain that is failing him.”
