(Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cIf you\u2019d like to honor Bruce today, please consider supporting the fund or another organization working in this space, or simply checking in on a caregiver \u2014 a small act of kindness that can mean so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
The actor\u2019s family announced in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with FTD after he took a step back from acting the year prior because he had aphasia, a neurological language disorder that affects a person\u2019s ability to understand, speak or communicate. <\/p>\n
Heming Willis \u2014 who shares two daughters, Mabel Ray, 13, and Evelyn Penn, 11, with the actor \u2014 frequently provides updates on her husband\u2019s health while advocating for dementia research patients and caregivers.<\/p>\n
She announced \u200b\u200bthe Emma & Bruce Willis Fund for Dementia Research and Caregiver Support last week while accepting an award at The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration’s Hope Rising Benefit in New York City. She accepted the award on her and the actor\u2019s behalf, and spoke about the last four years as his primary caregiver.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis journey has opened my eyes to the realities so many families face when a loved one is living with frontotemporal dementia,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe deeply in the importance of supporting research while also showing up for the caregivers who carry so much every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fund, housed by the Entertainment Industry Foundation, works to \u201cconfront frontotemporal dementia by raising awareness, funding promising research, and supporting caregivers,\u201d according to its website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Emma Heming Willis has marked her 17th wedding anniversary to husband Bruce Willis with a sweet social media post. The 47-year-old former model shared a throwback photo of the Die Hard star \u2014 who is living with the rare neurodegenerative disease frontotemporal dementia (FTD) \u2014 carrying his wife as they smiled together on a beach in Turks and Caicos. \u201cI was made to love him. 17 years,\u201d Heming Willis captioned the post. The anniversary post comes days after Heming Willis, who has been married to Willis since 2009, honored the actor\u2019s 71st birthday by asking for donations to their new charity. \u201cToday we celebrate Bruce\u2019s birthday. This journey with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) has opened my eyes to the realities so many families face,\u201d she wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s what inspired me to create The Emma & Bruce Willis Fund to raise awareness of FTD, support research, and stand beside the caregivers who carry so much every day.\u201d Emma Heming Willis and Bruce Willis tied the knot in 2009 (Getty) Emma Heming Willis celebrated her wedd…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13554"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}