Emma Heming, 47, the wife of action star Bruce Willis, 70, has announced that he now lives separately from her and their two daughters due to his deteriorating dementia.
The development comes two years after the family announced that the now 70-year-old had the incurable disease.
Emma’s announcement has since drawn a mixed reaction, including criticism, which she addressed in a later Instagram post.
Emma indicated that moving Bruce out of the house was better for their children and Bruce
Image credits: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
On August 26, Heming participated in an ABC special and offered insights into their lives with Bruce.
She explained that she had moved her husband out of the house into a second home not far from where she and their two daughters, Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, lived.
She motivated this decision, saying that it was better suited to the Die Hard star as it would be quieter than their main family home with their two young girls.
Image credits: emmahemingwillis
“It was one of the hardest decisions that I’ve had to make so far,” she told Diane Sawyer.
“But I knew, first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters. You know, he would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.”
Emma told Sawyer that the good memories were limited to moments and not days
Bruce’s mental illness has deteriorated to the point that he cannot speak.
“Bruce is in really great health overall, you know. It’s just his brain that is failing him,” Emma told Sawyer.
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When questioned about his memory, his wife of 16 years indicated that there is still a connection between him and her, but it is seen in short bursts.
“I feel he does [remember], right?” she told her host. “Like, he, I know he does. You know, when we are with him … he lights up, right?”
The 47-year-old says there is still a connection between her and her husband
Image credits: emmahemingwillis
Emma telegraphed that she has reached a point where she does not expect too much and is grateful for whatever recognition she gets from him.
“That’s all I need, you know?” she told Sawyer.
“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,” said the woman who married 16 years ago.
Every once so often, Bruce experiences a small moment of recognition. “Not days, but we get moments,” Emma confirmed.
Image credits: Good Morning America
“It’s his laugh, right? Like, he has such, like, a hardy laugh. And, you know, sometimes you’ll see that twinkle in his eye, or that smirk, and, you know, I just get, like, transported.”
“And it’s just hard to see, because as quickly as those moments appear, then it goes. It’s hard. But I’m grateful. I’m grateful that my husband is still very much here.”
The actor’s language has deteriorated to a point where his wife and kids find other ways to communicate with him
Touching on the effects of the illness that is gnawing away at the actor’s mind, Emma said:
“The language is going.” With this being the case, they found another way of communicating with him.
Her husband’s illness has also taken a toll on Emma.
She became fully aware of its effect when Scout LaRue Willis, Bruce’s daughter from his marriage to Demi Moore, expressed concern for her.
Image credits: MEGA/Getty
“I’ll never forget when Scout said that to me. And I thought, ‘Wow. Okay. I am losing it. I need to really get myself together here’.”
She assured Sawyer that she and the kids visit him often, describing the interactions as “filled with love and warmth and care and laughter.”
Emma has since called out the judgmental and opinionated for not having experienced the struggles of dementia caregivers themselves
Emma has since made it her mission to raise awareness about the disease, which, according to the World Health Organisation, affects over 57 million people globally.
Image credits: emmahemingwillis
On August 30, she took a video to her Instagram account to address critics.
She called out the difference between people “with an opinion” who she claimed were more inclined to judge dementia caregivers than those with experience.
Image credits: Kevin Winter/Getty
“Too often, caregivers are judged quickly and unfairly by those who haven’t lived this journey or stood on the front lines of it,” she reiterated in the caption.
Emma suggested that she was not deterred by the critics, saying: “Sharing openly may invite opinions, but more importantly, it creates connection and validation for those actually navigating the realities of caregiving every day.”
Netizens are rallying around Emma saying that critics have no right to speak unless they have been through what she has
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