'Hard to know' if Bruce Willis is aware of his dementia, wife says

The wife of Hollywood star Bruce Willis has spoken emotionally about her husband's struggle with dementia, as ITV News correspondent Geraint Vincent reports

It is "hard to know" if Bruce Willis is aware of his dementia, his wife has said six months after they publicly confirmed his diagnosis.

Last year the Die Hard actor, 68, stepped away from acting after he said he was suffering from aphasia.

In February this year, his family confirmed this had progressed to frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Speaking to NBC's Today on Monday, Emma Heming Willis opened up about her husband's health and how the family is dealing with it.

She said: "What I’m learning is that dementia is hard. 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 and when they say that this is a family disease, it really is."

The couple have two daughters who are 11 and nine. Willis has three older daughters with his ex-wife Demi Moore.

Asked by co-host Hoda Kotb if Willis was aware of his condition, Emma said it is "hard to know."

FTD is an “umbrella term” for a group of dementias that mainly affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, which are responsible for such things as personality, behaviour, language and speech, according to Dementia UK.

The charity said that FTD is a “rare” form of dementia that affects only around one in 20 people with a dementia diagnosis.

Emma and the rest of Willis's family have been raising awareness about dementia since the diagnosis.

After the diagnosis was announced the Alzheimer’s Society website, Alzheimers.org.uk, saw 12,000% more visitors.

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