bruce willis' daughter 'missing' dad amid dementia battle
'he is still there, play music talk to him hold his hand ... he isn't gone. he can hear you'
nov 24 2023
3 minute read
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rumer willis is “really missing” her dad bruce willis as he continues to battle dementia.
in an instagram post this week, rumer, 35, wrote that she is “missing” her dad, 68, whose condition has worsened after he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia last year.
in a throwback photo shared with her 1.1 million followers, bruce is seen smiling as he holds rumer as a baby. she captioned the photo: “really missing my papa today,” with an emoji smiling with a single tear.
“i understand what you mean. i have a case of dementia in the family, and unfortunately, it’s already quite advanced. it’s tough, especially since it involves your dad. he was my hero in my childhood. still is,” one follower commented on the post.
“he is still there, play music talk to him hold his hand … he isn’t gone. he can hear you,” another follower encouraged.
rumer’s post came after her sister tallulah also paid tribute to their father on instagram, sharing a series of photos that have brought comfort to her in recent months.
one showed her and bruce in a big armchair clasping hands, and another shows them standing together in a driveway with her wearing a die hard sweatshirt.
“damn, these photos are hitting tonight,” she wrote. “you’re my whole damn heart and i’m so proud to be your tallulah belle bruce willis.”
earlier this month, tallulah shared an update on her dad’s health during an appearance on the drew barrymore show .
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“he is the same, which i think in this regard i’ve learned is the best thing you can ask for,” she said on a recent episode. “i see love when i’m with him. and it’s my dad and he loves me, which is really special.”
in june, tallulah penned an essay for vogue in which she wrote about coming to terms with her father’s diagnosis.
“every time i go to my dad’s house, i take tons of photos — of whatever i see, the state of things,” she wrote. “i’m like an archaeologist, searching for treasure in stuff that i never used to pay much attention to. i have every voicemail from him saved on a hard drive. i find that i’m trying to document, to build a record for the day when he isn’t there to remind me of him and of us.”
meanwhile, bruce’s second wife, emma heming — with whom he shares two daughters, mabel 11, and evelyn, 9 — recently opened up on her “struggle with guilt” amid her husband’s battle with ftd.
“i struggle with guilt, knowing that i have resources that others don’t,” she wrote in an op-ed for maria shriver’s sunday paper earlier this month.
“when i’m able to get out for a hike to clear my head, it’s not lost on me that not all care partners can do that,” she continued
“when what i share about our family’s journey gets press attention, i know that there are many thousands of untold, unheard stories, each of them deserving of compassion and concern.”
bruce willis and emma heming willis.
getty
in march 2022, bruce’s family revealed he was suffering from aphasia — a neurological affliction that leaves a person unable to communicate. this past february, the actor’s loved ones said that his conditioned had worsened and he is suffering from ftd.
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according to the mayo clinic , ftd is an “umbrella term for a group of brain disorders that primarily affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. these areas of the brain are generally associated with personality, behaviour and language.”
“ftd is a cruel disease that many of us have never heard of and can strike anyone,” bruce’s loved ones wrote in a statement on the association for frontotemporal degeneration website.
“while this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis,” the statement released by his family continued. “today there are no treatments for the disease, a reality that we hope can change in the years ahead. as bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research.”
“what i’m learning is that dementia is hard,” emma said on the today show in september . “it’s hard on the person diagnosed. it’s also hard on the family. and that is no different for bruce, or myself, or our girls. when they say that this is a family disease, it really is.”
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