Bruce Willis' daughter describes his reaction to her face as he battles dementia

29 September 2023 , 04:56

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Tallulah Willis says her father's spirits rise every time she walks in the room amid dementia struggle (Image: WireImage)

Bruce Willis' daughter Tallulah says the Die Hard star "lights up" when his family members enter his room despite his dementia struggles.

The 29-year-old actress shared the difficult experience of approach to her father's health and the hard truths she has had to face as her father struggles with his health condition. The 68-year-old retired actor suffers from frontotemporal dementia, which is a rare type of disease that causes issues with behaviour and language. It is the result of damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.

And now Tallulah, Bruce's 29-year-old daughter he shares with ex Demi Moore, has revealed more about his medical condition, speaks about her own struggles, and informs readers of the symptoms and reality of FTD. In a vulnerable essay published in British Vogue, Talluah shared that despite his memory issues, her father still brightens at the sight of her walking through the door.

She wrote: "He still knows who I am and lights up when I enter the room. (He may always know who I am, give or take the occasional bad day. One difference between FTD and Alzeimer’s dementia is that, at least early in the disease, the former is characterised by language and motor deficits, while the latter features more memory loss.)"

Tallulah Willis shares approach to handling her father's health (demimoore/Instagram)

She goes on to say that she never knows if she should talk about her father in the past or present tense because he has changed throughout his condition. She confessed: "I keep flipping between the present and the past when I talk about Bruce: he is, he was, he is, he was. That’s because I have hopes for my father that I’m so reluctant to let go of."

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Tallulah says that she shares a lot of similarities to her father and knows that they would be "such good friends" if they had more time together. She described her famous father as being "cool and charming and slick and stylish and sweet and a little wacky." The Bandits star says that these incredible traits are parts of him that she inherited.

Since his diagnosis, Tallulah has revealed many moments of her acceptance throughout her father's health journey including realizing that he will not be present on her wedding day to saving every voicemail from him to cherish every part of her father she still has.

If you have questions about frontotemporal dementia, or any other form of dementia, you can contact the Dementia Research Infoline on 0300 111 5 111 between 9.00-5.00pm Monday to Friday or send an email to [email protected]

Caroline Gaspich