Bruce Willis’s caretaker wife Emma Heming Willis announced that she is launching a charity for dementia research and caregiver support on Thursday.
Heming Willis, 47, revealed the news while accepting the Susan Newhouse & Si Newhouse Award of Hope at The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration’s Hope Rising Benefit in New York, as per People.
The Emma & Bruce Willis Fund is ‘dedicated to advancing understanding of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) by raising awareness, supporting promising scientific research and strengthening support for caregivers.’
Heming Willis accepted the award on behalf of her and the Die Hard actor, 70, who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2022 at age 67.
‘This journey has opened my eyes to the realities so many families face when a loved one is living with frontotemporal dementia,’ she told the audience.
‘I believe deeply in the importance of supporting research while also showing up for the caregivers who carry so much every day.’
Bruce Willis’ caretaker wife Emma Heming Willis, 47, announced that she is launching a charity for dementia research and caregiver support on Thursday; Pictured in 2024
The Die Hard actor, 70, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2022 at age 67; The couple pictured in 2019
‘Through this fund, my hope is to help deepen understanding of FTD and ensure families facing it feel seen, supported, and less alone.’
‘Bruce has always led with generosity and heart, and I know he would be proud to see this effort helping families facing this disease.’
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 famously starred in Shyamalan’s 1999 supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense as child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe. He also played superhero David Dunn in the 2000 thriller Unbreakable.
Heming Willis, who wed the actor in 2009, also went on to repost a snap of herself on stage as well as a photo of her place card.
Last year the author revealed that her husband had moved into a separate one-story house down the street from their primary residence where he is supported by a full-time team of carers 24/7.
In January, the former model said that she visits the Hollywood star ‘all the time.’
Heming Willis revealed the news while accepting the Susan Newhouse & Si Newhouse Award of Hope at The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration’s Hope Rising Benefit in New York
She shared a selfie from the event with daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11. They were joined by Willis’s longtime collaborator, director M. Night Shyamalan and his wife Bhavna Shyamalan
‘This journey has opened my eyes to the realities so many families face when a loved one is living with frontotemporal dementia,’ Willis’s wife told the audience
Last year she revealed that Willis had moved into a separate house down the street from their primary residence, where he is supported by a full-time team of carers; The pair pictured in 2017
She and their two daughters have dinner with the icon several times a week and Heming Willis often drops by for breakfast with her spouse.
She said on the Conversations With Cam podcast: ‘It is our second home, and it’s a place where we make memories and that house supports Bruce’s every need, 24/7 and our other home, where our kids are, now they’re supported, now their needs are met and that’s worked so well for us.’
She added that Willis has been ‘thriving’ in the new environment.
She also said that moving Willis into the home was ‘one of the hardest decisions’ during his health struggle.
‘It did not come easy. Caregivers are faced with really hard decisions and we have to do what is the best for our family, what’s the safest for our person.’
She added: ‘Bruce wouldn’t want his two young daughters to be clouded by his disease. I know that.’
‘They weren’t having sleepovers, play dates. We weren’t inviting people over… it was a really hard time.’
Earlier she told The Sunday Times newspaper: ‘Among the sadness and discomfort, it was the right move — for him, for our girls, for me. Ultimately, I could get back to being his wife. And that’s such a gift.’
It has also given Bruce more freedom to reconnect with friends and family. She explained: ‘It’s made such a difference for more friends and family to have their own experience with him without it being my home, without me hovering, or my anxiety of how to manage the guest and their expectations, and then have to see their reactions – their sadness at what is.’
Willis has been surrounded by his blended family, including his wife as well as ex Demi Moore, and all his five daughters, who have rallied around him
In the same Conversations With Cam podcast interview, Heming said that her husband is not aware he has dementia.
In 2023, Willis’s close-knit blended family – including his ex-wife Demi Moore, 63, and their daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 32 – publicly announced that he’d been diagnosed with FTD, a form of dementia that causes a rapid decline in the areas of the brain linked to personality and language abilities.
FTD eats away at the parts of the brain that control language, behavior and personality. Unlike Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, patients don’t lose their memory immediately but instead undergo personality changes.
The disease also attacks areas of the brain responsible for judgment, impulse control and decision-making, leaving patients vulnerable to mismanaging their finances, which adds an extra burden on to caregivers.
While the actor has stepped away from the spotlight, his family members have periodically updated fans on his condition.
