Bruce Willis has been diagnosed with dementia and has been slowly losing his memory. Now, he hardly remembers who he is. His family has shared a heartbreaking update about the former action hero.
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The journey so far: Bruce Willis has been battling with dementia for two years, and over that time, he has begun to lose his sense of self and also his ability to talk. Thankfully, he is surrounded by loving family. They are maintaining close care of the elderly man and ensuring his mental decline is as easy as it can be.
The latest update: However, it is still hard for the family to watch the once monumental star of action movies and loved family member struggle with his mind. His wife, Emma Heming Willis, has shared her feelings about the struggle Bruce is having with dementia.
- “Bruce is in really great health overall, you know. It’s just his brain that is failing him,” she said. He is mostly able-bodied but struggling mentally.
Still Something Left
Bruce Willis’s wife speaks out: For people suffering from dementia, eventually they will even forget who their family members are, but this isn’t completely the case for Bruce Willis. During the ABC special Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey, his wife talked about his recollection of her.
- “I feel he does, right? Like, he, I know he does. You know, when we are with him … he lights up, right?” He also just about remembers his daughters. “He’s holding our hands. We’re kissing him. We’re hugging him. He is reciprocating. You know, he is into it.”
- She is a loving wife, and despite his dementia, she will stand by Bruce Willis as long as she can. “And so that’s all I need, you know? I don’t need him to know that I am his wife, and we were married on this day, and this is what it — I don’t need any of that. I just wanna feel that I have a connection with him. And I do.”
Why it matters: It’s always hard for a family to watch one of them lose themselves to dementia. Bruce Willis, once an icon of the Hollywood scene, is slowly succumbing. But he has a loving family that will stand by his side the whole way.

