Emma Heming says revealing Bruce Willis' dementia diagnosis to the world changed everything 'for the better'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Emma Heming, Bruce Willis’ wife, recently shared that disclosing the actor’s frontotemporal dementia (FTD) diagnosis to his fans changed everything "for the better" as she felt a huge weight was lifted from her shoulder.

The 45-year-old wife of the 'Die Hard' actor recently attended the AFTD 2024 Education Conference on Friday, May 3, and reflected on the family's decision to open up about Willis' battle with FTD in 2023. 

In 2022, his family announced that the star would be retiring from acting as he was diagnosed with aphasia.

Emma Heming says she could really exhale after disclosing Bruce Willis' dementia diagnosis to the public

During the interview with AFTD, Heming admitted that "everything changed for the better once we were able to disclose his diagnosis," as per Daily Mail.

The actress, Willis' primary caregiver, continued, "I could breathe," before adding, "I could really exhale and sort of just feel this weight lift from my shoulders."

Heming, who has been foremost in raising awareness of FTD ever since her husband’s diagnosis, further noted, "I was able to seek the support that I so desperately needed for my husband, for our whole family."

Taking to her Instagram Story on Friday, the model shared footage of her on stage at the Houston event where she gathered with other attendees to "raise as much awareness of FTD as" she can.

In another post on her Instagram, Heming shared a photo of her with three other women. The caption read, "Feeling grateful to be in Houston, Texas for @theaftd annual Education Conference surrounded by other FTD care partners, volunteers and advocates all here sharing the same common goal—to learn, grow and support one another 💞."

Heming tied the knot with the 'Glass' actor in 2009 and the couple share two daughters, Mabel and Evelyn. They celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary in March.

Previously, Willis was married to Demi Moore and they share daughters Rumer, 35, Scout, 32, and Tallulah, 30.

Emma Heming pushed back at negative media coverage surrounding Bruce Willis' health

Ever since ‘The Fifth Element’ actor was diagnosed with dementia, Heming has been fiercely guarding her husband. In March, the model took to Instagram and shared a clip of her slamming a media report that stated Willis had "no more joy" in his life.

She pushed back against the claims and stated, "I can just tell you, that is far from the truth. I need society and whoever's writing these stupid headlines to stop scaring people."

The model further added that the public perception regarding neurocognitive disease needs to develop stating, "Stop scaring people to think that once they get a diagnosis of some kind of neurocognitive disease that - "That's it, it's over, let's pack it up, nothing else to see here, we're done" - no, it's the complete opposite of that."

She noted that while the health battle has brought "a lot of ... grief and sadness" to her family, it has also facilitated love, connection, joy, and happiness.

Heming stressed, "So stop with these stupid headlines ... there's nothing to see here, okay?"

In the caption, Heming wrote, "My experience is that two things can be true and exist at the same time. Grief and deep love. Sadness and deep connection. Trauma and resilience."

She continued, "I had to get out of my own way to get here but once I arrived, life really started to come together with meaning and I had a true sense of purpose. There is so much beauty and soulfulness in this story."