British model Emma Heming, the second wife of Bruce Willis, opened up on the ‘hardest decision’ she had to make, after the Hollywood veteran’s dementia diagnosis.
For the unversed, Bruce Willis, 70, was first diagnosed with aphasia back in 2022 and announced his retirement from acting due to hampered cognitive abilities. A year later, the ‘Die Hard’ star revealed his diagnosis of untreatable frontotemporal dementia (also known as FTD) – a neurodegenerative disorder.
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As his condition reportedly worsened significantly in recent times, Emma Heming and their two daughters, Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, had to make a tough decision for his well-being, i.e. to let him live with his round-the-clock caretakers, in a separate home from the family.
The veteran’s second wife revealed the development in their new documentary, saying, “It was one of the hardest decisions that I’ve had to make so far, but I knew, first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters. He would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.”
“It’s our second home, so the girls have their things there. It is a house that is filled with love and warmth and care and laughter,” she explained. “It’s been beautiful to see that … to see how many of Bruce’s friends continue to show up for him. They bring in life and fun.”
“I felt like what we were going through as a family, what Bruce was going through, was so singular. I didn’t know if parents would feel comfortable leaving their child at our home. Not only was I isolated, I isolated our whole family,” Heming continued about Willis’ initial days of diagnosis. “The girls were isolated, too, and that was by design. I was definitely worried about sleeping and just making sure our house was secure. You have to think about your stove. You have to think about your freezer, refrigerator, the doors.”
“I was doing that. That was a hard time. That was a really hard time,” she recalled.