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Bruce Willis' wife Emma Heming is opening up more about how the Die Hard actor's "declining" health amid his dementia diagnosis is impacting their children.
In a new interview with Town & Country Magazine published Tuesday (October 29), Heming shared how her and Willis' two daughters, 12-year-old Mabel and 10-year-old Evelyn, saw his health declining for years prior to his diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia and aphasia, per Page Six.
"I've never tried to sugarcoat anything for them. They've grown up with Bruce declining over the years," she said, adding, "I'm not trying to shield them from it."
The 69-year-old Pulp Fiction star was initially diagnosed with aphasia, which can affect a person's ability to speak and understand written and verbal language, in 2022 before later being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.
"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 the disease started to take over,'" she said. "He was diagnosed two years ago, but a year prior we had a loose diagnosis with aphasia, which is a symptom of a disease but is not the disease."
Heming said the disease is often "misunderstood" and "misdiagnosed," so when they finally had an answer to what was going on with his health, she felt like she could better help their daughters understanding what was happening.
"Finally getting to a diagnosis was key so that I could learn what frontotemporal dementia is and I could educate our children," she said, adding, "What I learned from our therapist was that if children ask questions, they're ready to know the answer."
Heming said she doesn't talk about the "terminal side" of Willis' diagnoses with their children but shared that they "know that Daddy's not going to get better."
"If we could see that Bruce was struggling, I would address it with the kids so they could understand, but this disease is chronic, progressive and terminal," she said. "There is no cure."
Willis also shares three daughters with ex-wife Demi Moore: Rumer, 36, Scout, 33, and Tallulah, 30. Earlier this month, Rumer offered some insight into her dad's condition and shared how he is as a grandfather to her 1-year-old daughter.