Hollywood veteran Bruce Willis made a rare public appearance during his battle with frontotemporal dementia this week to thank the first responders for their efforts amid the horrific wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles.
The video of Willis featured no sound and was shared by his wife, Emma Heming Willis, on Instagram, adding that he “never missed a chance” to say thank you to a first responder.
“Spotting a first responder, Bruce never missed a chance to show his gratitude with a heartfelt handshake and a ‘thank you for your service.’ Yesterday was no different,” she wrote as the video showed her husband shaking the hands of several firefighters.
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The 69-year-old Bruce Willis was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022 and later with dementia in 2023. He has since rarely made public appearances and has only been shown in photographs with his family. According to Emma Heming Willis, aphasia slowly “attacks and destroys a person’s ability to walk, think, make decisions.
“All neurodegenerative diseases are different. FTD is the most common form of dementia for people under the age of 60,” she told Town & Country. “FTD affects the frontal part of the brain and the temporal lobes, so it can affect movement, behavior, and language, and because it’s progressive it can also spread. For Bruce, it started in his temporal lobes and then has spread to the frontal part of his brain. It attacks and destroys a person’s ability to walk, think, make decisions.”
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