:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Bruce-and-Tallulah-Willis-110823-c9e0120ac1604ea1bf8c282ee8ff1832.jpg "Bruce Willis’ daughter gives update on dad’s battle with dementia")
Bruce Willis’ daughter Tallulah has shared an update on her father’s health amid his battle with frontotemporal dementia.
“He is the same, which I think in this regard I’ve learned is the best thing you can ask for,” she said on Wednesday’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. “I see love when I’m with him. And it’s my dad and he loves me, which is really special.”
The actor’s family announced that he had been diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder that affects how one communicates, and would be stepping back from acting in 2022. In February, they revealed that the Die Hard star’s condition had progressed into frontotemporal dementia, or FTD.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
While visiting the talk show, Tallulah explained why her family chose to be transparent about Bruce’s condition.
“On one hand it’s who we are as a family, but also, it’s really important for us to spread awareness about FTD,” she told host Drew Barrymore. “If we can take something that we’re struggling with as a family to help other people, to turn it around to make something beautiful about it, that’s really special for us.”
Tallulah explained that what has helped her “heal” during this experience is becoming “an archeologist to my dad’s world” and archiving all of his “little trinkets and doodads.” She also said the pair spend time together listening to music and “just kind of sitting in that energy of love,” adding, “It’s really special.”
In June, Tallulah published an essay in Vogue in which she reflected on coming to terms with her father’s diagnosis.
“Every time I go to my dad’s house, I take tons of photos — of whatever I see, the state of things,” she wrote. “I’m like an archaeologist, searching for treasure in stuff that I never used to pay much attention to. I have every voicemail from him saved on a hard drive. I find that I’m trying to document, to build a record for the day when he isn’t there to remind me of him and of us.”
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