Bruce Willis' Wife Emma Heming Willis Gives Emotional Update On His FTD Battle
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00:00 How was it to come to terms with this diagnosis for you?
00:05 - I think it was the blessing and the curse.
00:08 - Emma Hemming Willis is giving an update
00:10 on her husband, Bruce Willis.
00:12 During an emotional interview on the Today Show,
00:15 Emma joined Hoda Kopi alongside Susan Dickinson,
00:18 who is the CEO of the Association
00:21 for Front Temporal Degeneration,
00:23 to raise awareness on World Front Temporal
00:25 Dementia Awareness Week.
00:27 - You know, what I'm learning is that dementia
00:29 is hard, it's hard on the person diagnosed,
00:32 it's also hard on the family,
00:34 and that is no different for Bruce or myself or our girls.
00:38 And when they say that this is a family disease,
00:42 it really is.
00:44 - Bruce was diagnosed with front temporal dementia
00:47 earlier this year.
00:48 Susan then went on to explain how FDT
00:50 is different from Alzheimer's disease
00:53 and how people present with FTD.
00:56 - What we're really talking about, Hoda,
00:57 is unexplained changes in how a person is in the world.
01:02 So somebody who normally speaks absolutely fine
01:06 has trouble putting their thoughts
01:08 into meaningful sentences,
01:09 or they may lose the meaning of a specific word.
01:13 We're talking about maybe a person
01:15 who always managed the family's finances,
01:17 all of a sudden has trouble balancing a checkbook,
01:21 or has problems at work.
01:22 Somebody who always performed well
01:24 is either making poor decisions
01:27 or just isn't completing tasks.
01:29 - Emma noted that it's quote,
01:30 "Hard to know if the 68-year-old
01:32 is fully aware of his diagnosis."
01:35 But the Make Time Wellness founder,
01:36 who called herself Bruce's quote, "Care partner,"
01:39 shared how their family continues to celebrate joy
01:42 in their lives amid his diagnosis.
01:45 - So many beautiful things happening in our lives.
01:48 It's just really important for me to look up
01:52 from the grief and the sadness
01:54 so that I can see what is happening around us.
01:58 And Bruce would really want us to be in the joy of what is.
02:03 He would really want that for me and our family.
02:07 - The 45-year-old concluded the interview
02:08 by explaining how her husband is quote,
02:10 "The gift that keeps on giving,
02:12 especially when it comes to their two daughters,
02:14 Mabel and Evelyn."
02:16 - I mean, honestly, he is the gift that keeps on giving.
02:18 Love, patience, resilience.
02:24 So much.
02:25 And he's teaching me and our whole,
02:28 I mean, for me to be out here doing this,
02:31 this is not my comfort zone,
02:32 but like this is the power of Bruce.
02:35 - I've heard from people who have an ailing family member,
02:39 and I remember this from a friend of mine.
02:40 She said, "My husband's diagnosis
02:43 made my kids better people, just better people."
02:46 Is that what you're noticing with yours?
02:47 - That is what I'm noticing.
02:49 I'm noticing that, listen,
02:50 I think my kids would be great no matter what,
02:52 and this is not what I would want for them,
02:54 but really, like I said, it's teaching them so much
02:58 and how to care and love.
03:00 And it's really, it's a beautiful thing amongst the sadness.
03:05 (upbeat music)
03:10 (upbeat music)
03:14 (upbeat music)
03:16 (upbeat music)
03:19 (upbeat music)