Legendary actor Bruce Willis was recently spotted for the first time since his family revealed that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) last month. The retired actor stepped out in Santa Monica on Thursday. . FTD symptoms often arise in younger patients between the ages of 40 and 65, according to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
His wife, Emma Heming had opened up after she was criticized by netizens that she was using Willis’ diagnosis for ‘five minutes’ fame. Heming has been married to the “Die Hard” actor since 2009. She recently revealed that her husband’s battle with aphasia has progressed into Frontotemporal Dementia. Since then, Heming has made it her goal to raise awareness for Willis’ condition.
Snow, CEO of Positive Approach to Care, told NewsNation it’s important for caregivers to realize that people living with dementia’s brains are changing, which meant their brain needs to change.
“It helps when you get the diagnosis to recognize, okay so now we know what we’ve been living with for a while, rather than everything in our life is going to change now,” she explained. “Because I mean, really, the change has been happening. So how do we figure out our new normal, when this is just not typical for what should be happening? So really taking a step back for a second and figure out what still gives the person a sense of purpose, value joy.”
