Emma Heming Willis is standing by her decision to move husband Bruce Willis into a separate home amid his battle with frontotemporal dementia.
“It was a hard decision for us, but it was the safest and best decision not just for Bruce but also for our two young girls,” Heming Willis, 49, said in an interview on Good Morning America on Tuesday, September 9. “And, you know, it’s really not up for a debate. Now I know that Bruce has the best care 100 percent of the time. His needs are met 100 percent of the time, as well as our two young daughters. So I’m not gonna take a vote on that.”
Heming Willis admitted she “knew” her decision to move Willis, 70, into another home would cause some controversy. However, she wanted to bring awareness of the struggles and pressure caretakers endure.
“I feel like caregivers are so judged, and it just goes to show that people sometimes just have an opinion versus really having the experience,” she shared. “And I’ll say that dementia plays out differently in every household. If you’ve seen one case of dementia, it’s one case of dementia. So you have to do what is right for your family and what is going to keep your loved one safe, as well as your young children.”
Heming Willis explained that having a conversation with Willis’ neurologist opened her eyes and made her realize she couldn’t do this on her own.
“She delivered this statistic to me, letting me know sometimes caregivers die before their loved ones and I think that was my wake-up call to realize that I need to get help and I’m not a failure because I need help,” she said. “It’s OK for me to raise my hand. I didn’t realize that I really needed permission for someone to tell me that it’s OK to get help.”
Last month, Heming Willis revealed that the Die Hard actor resides in a second home with a care team. Heming Willis remains nearby, as she lives with their two daughters, Mabel, 12, and Evelyn, 11. (Willis is also father to daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31, whom he shares with ex Demi Moore.)
“It was one of the hardest decisions that I’ve had to make so far,” she said of moving Willis into his own home in an August interview with Diane Sawyer. “But I knew, first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters. You know, he would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.”
Heming Willis added that she and the girls make frequent visits to see Willis.
“We are there a lot,” she explained. “It’s our second home, so the girls have their things there. It is a house that is filled with love and warmth and care and laughter.”
