Tallulah Willis, the daughter of actor Bruce Willis, has provided more information on her father’s condition as he fights dementia.
The action star has been undergoing treatment to battle his frontotemporal dementia, which he was diagnosed with in February. Due to the disease, Willis now has complications when communicating with members of his family, which also resulted in his retirement from acting.
Tallulah made an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, telling the host: “He is the same…which I think, in this regard, I’ve learned is the best thing that you can ask for. And what I see is love when I am with him. And it’s my dad and he loves me.”
“I think it’s twofold,” she said about the importance of being open about her father’s struggle. “On one hand, it’s who we are as a family, but also, it’s really important for us to spread awareness about FTD.”
When asked about living with her father’s condition, Tallulah stressed the importance of helping others with a similar situation, stating, “If we can take something that we’re struggling with as a family, and individually, to help other people, to turn it around to make something beautiful about it, that’s really special for us.”
After discovering the mechanics of the disease, the actor’s wife, Hemming Willis, previously explained, “It doesn’t make it any less painful, but just being in the acceptance and just being in the know of what happened to Bruce just makes it a little bit easier”.
Since his diagnosis, the Willis family have taken time to inform the world about the disease. Along with addressing Willis’ condition, Tallulah has taken part in World Frontotemporal Dementia Awareness Week this year. However, due to the nature of the illness, treatment isn’t simple.
Tallulah previously said of his condition: “My family announced in early 2022 that Bruce Willis was suffering from aphasia, a brain-mediated inability to speak or to understand speech, and we learned earlier this year that that symptom was a feature of frontotemporal dementia, a progressive neurological disorder that chips away at his cognition and behaviour day by day.”
Watch her appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show below.
