By India McCarty
Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Hemming Willis recently revealed how the actor fought back against his degenerative illness and continued working as long as he could.
“Willis’s deterioration wasn’t immediately obvious to anyone on-screen or off,” Australian News.com reported, explaining that he found ways to cope with the side effects of aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, as detailed in Heming Willis’ new book.
The book, titled The Unexpected Journey, chronicles the couple’s journey through Willis’ diagnoses, as well as Heming Willis’ new role as a caregiver. It also shares the methods Willis used to hide his deteriorating mental condition.
“Before making his condition public, Willis had found ways to soldier on with his acting, having directors scale down his dialogue and getting a trusted friend to feed him his lines through an earpiece,” Australian News.com wrote of Heming Willis’ book.
The outlet added that the DIE HARD actor also had a “crippling stutter as a child,” which led to his typical “slow speech pattern” that didn’t concern friends and family too much “when he began stumbling over his words a little more than usual.”
Willis and his family shared that he had been diagnosed with aphasia in 2022. By the following year, his diagnosis had progressed to frontotemporal dementia.
Heming Willis shared the news of The Unexpected Journey earlier this year, writing on Instagram, “Born from grief, shaped by love, and guided by purpose, this is the book I needed back when Bruce was first diagnosed and I was frozen with fear and uncertainty.”
“This is the book I trust will help the next caregiver,” she continued. “It is filled with support, insight, and the hope needed to navigate this journey…This book is for all of us finding our way through the unknown with love, grit, and courage. You are not alone.”
In another post, she wrote, “There’s something profoundly tragic about the reason I had to write this book. But in the process, I discovered what I call the Remarkable Reframe: that even in the depths of grief, there can be meaning, connection, and unexpected beauty.”
“I know this book will help others because it’s helping me,” she concluded.
In a post on her website, Heming Willis’ elaborated, writing, “This isn’t a guide on how to be a caregiver; it’s about how to care for yourself while doing one of the hardest, most heartbreaking jobs in the world. Through my own experience and insights from leading experts, I hope to help other care partners feel less isolated, better prepared, and empowered to navigate this journey with strength and support.”
The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope and Yourself on the Caregiving Path will hit bookstores Sept. 9.
Read Next: Emma Heming Willis Still Finds ‘Joy’ With Husband Bruce Willis
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