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Bruce Willis Gets Disappointing Health Update as Family Wants to 'Cherish Every Last Moment'

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Willis' dementia 'has progressed quickly,' a source says, 'and he can't really communicate anymore."

Bruce Willis' has been living with dementia for the past few years, and the beloved actor recently got a disappointing health update. Recently, a source close to Willis' family shared that his "disease has progressed quickly, and he can't really communicate anymore." 

The In Touch source went on to say that his family is currently planning a big party for his 69th birthday on March 19, "Those who love Bruce want to cherish every last moment with him. They all realize this could be his last birthday," the source said, adding that Willis' daughters are "taking as many photos and videos as possible."

Willis shares three children with ex-wife Demi Moore: Tallulah, 30, Scout, 32, and Rumer, 35 — as well as daughters Evelyn Penn, 9, and Mabel Ray, 11, with Emma Heming Willis, his wife since 2009. Willis and Moore are also grandparents to Rumer's baby daughter, Louetta Isley.

Previously, Bruce was diagnosed with aphasia, but in 2023 it was revealed that he is living with frontotemporal dementia, or FTD. The Alzheimer's Association offers a detailed explanation of FTD, which "refers to a group of disorders caused by progressive nerve cell loss in the brain's frontal lobes (the areas behind your forehead) or its temporal lobes (the regions behind your ears). The association also says nerve cell damage caused by FTD can lead to "loss of function in these brain regions, which variably cause deterioration in behavior, personality and/or difficulty with producing or comprehending language."

Back in September, during an appearance on the TODAY show, Heming shared how the family's experience has been. "Dementia is hard," she said frankly. "It's hard on the person diagnosed, it's also hard on the family. And that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. When they say this is a family disease, it really is." 

TODAY co-anchor Hoda Kotb then asked if Willis is aware of his diagnosis, to which Heming Willis admitted that they can't really be certain that he does. "It's hard to know," she admitted, later going on to share what is her role as a "care partner" for her husband. 

"It's important for care partners to look after themselves so that they can be the best care partner for the person they're caring for," Heming Willis said. She then added that Willis is "the gift that keeps on giving," and that their daughters, Mabel and Evelyn, have learned traits such as "love, patience and resilience" from him. "It's teaching them so much and how to care and love, and it's really a beautiful thing amongst the sadness," she said.

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