25 September 2023 , 17:56
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Bruce Willis ' wife has admitted to feeling guilty at times as she nurses him through his dementia diagnosis.
Emma Heming Willis has been talking about her experience of looking after her Hollywood megastar husband since his shock diagnosis and how it has effected their lives. Talking to Teepa Snow - Occupational Therapist, and Founder and CEO of Positive Approach to Care - she opened up about the pressure and guilt felt by carers and the importance of self-care for them.
The chat with Teepa comes as part of World FTD Awareness Week - the rare type of dementia which Bruce was diagnosed with known as Frontotemporal Dementia. Emma said: “I think it’s so hard to regulate sometimes how you’re feeling and I think sometimes caregivers feel so guilty, you know. God dare they look after themselves.
Emma has been caring for Bruce since his diagnosis (VCG via Getty Images)"But’s it’s so important in order to sustain. And I always say this, like you have to be able to look after yourself because you can’t look after the person that you love if you aren’t filling yourself up.”
Meanwhile, Emma has also been talking to TODAY co-anchor Hoda Kotb about Bruce's condition in an exclusive TV interview. During the chat she shared the heartbreaking news that she thinks it is "hard to know" if the Die Hard star is even aware of having the condition. Emma, 45, admitted the whole family feel the strain of what is happening to him.
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Emma has been raising awareness for Frontotemporal Dementia (YouTube)She said: "Dementia is hard. 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 this is a family disease, it really is." In March 2022 Bruce's family announced that he would be stepping away from acting after being diagnosed with brain condition aphasia.
Then in February 2023 they revealed the crushing news that he had been diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia. During the chat Emma also shared her love for Bruce through his struggles calling him "the gift that keeps on giving," and admitting that he has taught their daughters Mabel and Evelyn, important personality traits like "love, patience and resilience." She added: "It's teaching them so much and how to care and love, and it’s really a beautiful thing amongst the sadness."