Bruce Willis’s caretaker wife launches dementia charity amid actor’s battle with the degenerative disease

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Emma Heming Willis, wife of actor Bruce Willis, revealed on Thursday that she’s starting a new charity. The organization will focus on funding dementia research and providing support for caregivers.

Bruce Willis’s family announced he has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. He shared the news while being honored at an event for the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration in New York, according to People magazine.

The Emma & Bruce Willis Fund works to improve understanding of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) by increasing awareness, funding important research, and providing better support for those who care for people with the condition.

Emma Heming Willis accepted the award for herself and her husband, Bruce Willis, 70, who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2022 when he was 67.

She shared with the audience that going through this experience helped her understand the challenges families deal with when someone they care for has frontotemporal dementia.

As someone passionate about well-being, I truly feel it’s vital to invest in finding solutions through research, but equally important to remember and support the incredible people – the caregivers – who dedicate themselves to others day in and day out. They deserve all the recognition and help we can give.

I created this fund to increase awareness of frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) and to provide families affected by it with the support and sense of community they deserve, so they don’t have to go through it feeling isolated.

Honestly, Bruce has always been such a genuinely kind person, always thinking of others. Knowing him, he’d be absolutely thrilled to see everyone coming together like this to help families battling this awful illness. It just… it feels right, you know? Like it’s exactly what he’d want.

Heming Willis shared a selfie from the event with daughters, Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11.

They were joined by director M. Night Shyamalan and his wife of over 30 years Dr. Bhavna Shyamalan. 

Willis and Shyamalan have a legendary cinematic history together.

The actor is well-known for his roles in two M. Night Shyamalan thrillers: he played a child psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Crowe, in the 1999 film The Sixth Sense, and the superhero David Dunn in Unbreakable from 2000.

Heming Willis, married to the actor since 2009, shared a photo of herself performing on stage and another of her seating card at the event.

Last year, the author shared that her husband now lives in a separate house nearby, and receives around-the-clock care from a dedicated team.

In January, the former model said that she visits the Hollywood star ‘all the time.’

She regularly has dinner with the famous actress and their two daughters, and her husband, Bruce Willis, often joins them for breakfast.

In a recent podcast interview, she described their main house as a second home, a place full of cherished memories and completely equipped to care for Bruce around the clock. She also explained that their other home, where their children live, now provides everything the kids need, and this arrangement has been very successful for the family.

She added that Willis has been ‘thriving’ in the new environment.

She explained that bringing Willis home was a really difficult choice, especially given everything he was going through with his health.

It wasn’t a simple process. Those providing care often have to make incredibly difficult choices, and we must prioritize what’s best and safest for our loved one and our family.

She added: ‘Bruce wouldn’t want his two young daughters to be clouded by his disease. I know that.’

It was a difficult period – we weren’t having friends over for sleepovers or playdates, or really inviting anyone into our home.

She recently shared with The Sunday Times that despite the difficulty and pain, agreeing to the arrangement was the best course of action for everyone involved—her husband, their daughters, and herself. She felt it allowed her to rebuild their marriage, which she described as a precious opportunity.

Having a separate space has allowed Bruce to reconnect with loved ones more easily. His partner explained that it’s been a relief for friends and family to visit and connect with him authentically, without her feeling the pressure of hosting or worrying about their reactions to his condition. It’s given them the space to experience their own connection with him, separate from her involvement.

During the same podcast interview, Heming revealed that her husband doesn’t know he has dementia.

In 2023, Bruce Willis’s family – including his former wife Demi Moore and their three daughters, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah – shared that he has frontotemporal dementia (FTD). This type of dementia quickly affects the parts of the brain that control personality and the ability to communicate.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) damages the brain areas responsible for language, behavior, and personality. While it’s a type of dementia, unlike Alzheimer’s, people with FTD typically experience changes in personality before memory loss begins.

This disease affects the parts of the brain that control good judgment, self-control, and making decisions. This can lead to patients having trouble managing their money, creating more stress for those who care for them.

Although the actor is no longer publicly active, his family has occasionally shared updates with fans about how he’s doing.

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2026-03-13 09:04