President Reagan’s Daughter Shares Advice With Bruce Willis’ Family After Actor’s Diagnosis

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images/Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Former President Ronald Reagan’s daughter has some sage advice for Bruce Willis’ family and the American public. In an op-ed for The New York Times, Patti Davis reflected on her own personal experience with having a family member diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Following the recent announcement of Bruce Willis’ diagnosis of Frontotemporal Dementia, Davis warned of the inevitable heartbreak while commending those who bring attention to the disease in order to educate the public.

Videos by Rare

Bruce Willis’ Family Revealed He Has Frontotemporal Dementia on February 16, 2023

Alzheimer’s Disease is a type of Dementia but is not the exact same diagnosis as Bruce Willis’. But there are similarities, namely that all Dementia types affect the brain and become progressively worse over time. With Alzheimer’s, the core symptom is severe memory loss. Frontotemporal Dementia on the other hand can be further split into different categories. One has an effect on behavior, another affects movement, and yet another affects a person’s ability to communicate. It is the latter which Bruce Willis is reported to have.

In her op-ed, Patti Davis spoke about reading the open letter from Bruce Willis’ family to the public. The letter was posted to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration’s website. It was signed by his wife, Emma Heming Willis; his five daughters, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel, and Evelyn; and his ex-wife and close friend Demi Moore. They addressed the public to give an update on Bruce Willis’ condition. It was previously revealed simply as aphasia last spring when he retired.

Bruce Willis Would Have Wanted to Share His Diagnosis to Help Others

The letter first thanked the public for their support and then disclosed his Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) diagnosis. They called it a “cruel disease.” The disease can strike anybody and its diagnosis can take many years. The Willis family acknowledged that there is a need for its further research as well as public awareness.

“Bruce always believed in using his voice in the world to help others, and to raise awareness about important issues both publicly and privately,” they wrote. “We know in our hearts that – if he could today — he would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease and how it impacts so many individuals and their families.”

Patti Davis’ Experience With Her Father Ronald Reagan’s Alzheimer’s Diagnosis Echoes That of Bruce Willis’ Family

When Patti Davis read the Willis family statement, she says she was brought back in time to her own family’s public disclosure of her father’s Alzheimer’s.

“Reading that beautiful letter, I felt awe at their bravery, as well as their unity as members of a complex family,” wrote Davis. “I felt sorrow for Mr. Willis. I also felt a tug of fear about the consequences of going public —  just as I felt in 1994 when my father told the nation that he had Alzheimer’s.”

Ronald Reagan had left the office of President of the United States five years earlier. It was he himself who wrote the letter addressing the American public. Davis, her mother Nancy Reagan, and the entire family had only learned of Reagan’s Alzheimer’s 2 weeks prior.

Patti Davis recalled the myriad emotions running through her at the time when her family learned of the disease. “I had been overwhelmed with a storm of emotions: grief, fear, a resolve to be there for my father through it all. But at that time it was a family matter. No one had mentioned making his diagnosis public, and I hadn’t asked,” she wrote.

Davis said Nancy called her from California, early in the morning. She said that Ronald Reagan was going to deliver a letter to the American public within hours. “She said it was his idea, and she was so proud of his decision,” wrote Davis. “I remember looking down at the street below — people hurrying along on their way to somewhere — and feeling time slow down.”

Patti Davis, too, was proud of her father. She said he’d sat down and started writing on his own initiative. And that his honest message was further proof of his loyalty to and love for his country.

Ronald Reagan’s Letter Was One of the First Instances of a Public Figure Disclosing a Serious Brain Disease

Ronald Reagan’s letter was published on November 5, 1994 and can be read in full via the Reagan Library.

“My Fellow Americans, I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease,” Reagan began. He then reminded the public that both he and his wife had beat cancer. Reagan recalled that in disclosing their cancer diagnoses in the past, they inspired more Americans to seek testing and treatment for their own cancers. Because of their previous experience in sharing what would otherwise be deeply personal with the public, he believed that he would have a similar effect on public knowledge by sharing his new diagnosis.

“At the moment I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done,” he wrote. But he knew that things would get worse.

“Unfortunately, as Alzheimer’s Disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden.  I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience,” Reagan continued. “When the time comes I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage.”

Ronald Reagan thanked America for allowing him to serve as President. His final words were poetic but heart-wrenching. “When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.  I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.”

Reagan’s Alzheimer’s Reportedly Contributed to His Death From Pneumonia in 2004

The former President lived on for another 10 years. Reagan sadly died of pneumonia in June 2004, which was complicated by Alzheimer’s. As the Washington Post wrote at the time of his passing, Alzheimer’s can cause disordered mobility. This leads to many more issues such as with swallowing and eventually causes malnutrition. These things can make a person’s ability to recover from pneumonia much more difficult.

Patti Davis looked back at the time of her father’s letter to the American public, up until his death and beyond. She revealed that it can be tough for a public figure due to exposure and vulnerability. While she received support, she also had to contend with malice. “I learned to ignore the hurtful comments and the mockery, which continued to his death in 2004, at age 93,” she wrote.

My hope for Bruce Willis’s family, as they go down this unpredictable and heartbreaking road, is for those around them to know that simply being there is often all you can do. There is no sidestepping the grief, the pain, the helplessness. There is just, maybe, a human wall of comfort to lean on.

I experienced that, I felt it — the concern and compassion of strangers who took time out of their lives to think about us, to care about how we were doing. And there are others whom the Willis family will never meet, other families who have been invaded by this cruel disease, who today feel a little less lonely because of the decision to announce a diagnosis that rips your soul apart.

Patti Davis via The New York Times

Reagan’s and Willis’ Families Hope to Shed Insight for Others Who Are Struggling with a Family Dementia Diagnosis

Emma Heming Willis has been married to Bruce since 2009. She admitted that life has already become much harder since his initial aphasia diagnosis.

“My grief can be paralyzing but I’m learning how to live alongside it,” she wrote in April. Around the same time, she posted a video of his daughter’s partner, Derek Richard Thomas, playing guitar while Bruce played harmonica. In the video, you would have no idea that Bruce Willis was suffering from a brain disease. He’s incredibly talented.

There are no words for the pain that Bruce Willis’ family, and all families who are affected by Alzheimer’s and Dementia are feeling. But as Ronald Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis so eloquently wrote, hopefully they can feel a little less lonely. This is something that can develop in anyone, and as humans we are all in it together.

Read More: Bruce Willis Diagnosed with Frontotemporal Demential (FTD)

What do you think?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Only 19% Of Americans Trust Biden’s Handling of Ukraine, Poll Says

Police Warn Residents of ‘Creepy’ Cookie Monster Terrorizing City