(CNN) – Two years after former actor Bruce Willis was diagnosed with dementia, his wife says his brain is “failing him,” and he is having a hard time speaking.
Emma Heming Willis, the 70-year-old’s wife, spoke with ABC’s Diane Sawyer for a special called “Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey.” She says Willis, to whom she has been married for 16 years, is mobile and in good health overall.
“The language is going, and we’ve learned to adapt,” she said. “We have a way of communicating with him, which is just a different way.”
News of Willis’ communication difficulties comes two years after his family announced he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. The former actor has two daughters, ages 13 and 11, with Heming Willis and is the father of three adult daughters with his ex-wife, actress Demi Moore.
Heming Willis told Sawyer it seems like Willis still has a connection with his family, and his personality comes through in small ways, like in a laugh or smirk.
“You know, when we are with him … he lights up, right?” she said. “He’s holding our hands. We’re kissing him. We’re hugging him. He is reciprocating.”
The family has moved Willis to a new home, where he can be surrounded by professional caregivers, Heming Willis says. She calls it “one of the hardest decisions” she’s had to make.
She is publishing a book about being her husband’s caregiver called “The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path.” It will be available Sept. 9.
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