Bruce Willis' wife Emma Heming has revealed the actor's early symptoms of dementia were initially believed to be a return of a stutter he's had since childhood.
"Bruce has always had a stutter, but he has been good at covering it up," Heming told Town & Country as she discussed the early signs of his frontotemporal dementia.
Heming explained Willis' disease first manifested with issues with his language.
"As his language started changing, it [seemed like it] was just a part of a stutter, it was just Bruce," she explained.
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Emma Heming Willis has revelead that the actor's early symptoms of dementia were initially believed to be a return of his childhood stutter. (Getty)"Never in a million years would I think it would be a form of dementia for someone so young."
In March 2022, Willis' family announced that the actor have been recently diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that affects language and communication abilities. Less than a year later, the family revealed that he had received a further diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
The journey to his diagnosis was a slow burn, Heming explains.
"I say that FTD whispers, it doesn't shout. It's hard for me to say, 'This is where Bruce ended and this is where his disease started to take over'." Heming sad.
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"He was diagnosed two years ago but a year prior we had a loose diagnosis of aphasia, which is a symptom of a disease but is not the disease."
According to Mayo Clinic, Frontotemporal dementia refers to a group of brain diseases that affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain – the areas associated with personality, behaviour and language.
"For Bruce, it started in his temporal lobes and then spread to the frontal part of his brain. It attacks and destroys a person's ability to walk, think, make decisions," Heming explains of Willis' diagnosis.
It has been a difficult journey for the entire family since Willis' diagnosis. Last month Willis' daughter Tallulah Willis shared that "there's painful days, but there's so much love."
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Heming Willis says she's doing "much better than [she] was when [the family] first received the FTD diagnosis". (Instagram)Heming herself says while it's an ongoing challenge, she's doing "much better than [she] was when [the family] first received the FTD diagnosis".
"I'm not saying it's any easier but I've had to get used to what's happenign so that I can be grounded in what is, so that I can support our children. I'm trying to find that balance between the grief and the sadness that I feel, which can just crack open at any given moment, and finding joy."
Following her husband's diagnosis, Heming has become a fierce advocate for FTD awareness.
The businesswoman has continued to share family updates, marking Father's Day with their "favourite girl dad" Willis in June.
Heming shared photos of the actor with all his children.
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