It has been almost a year since actor Bruce Willis‘ family announced that he would no longer be acting due to his aphasia diagnosis. At the time, his family, announced that they were staying positive, but that communication was difficult, so he made the decision to stop acting. His family who made the announcement includes ex-wife Demi Moore, current wife Emma Heming Willis, and his children.
More recently, his family provided more details about his diagnosis, sharing that his specific form of aphasia is called frontotemporal dementia (FTD). There is no cure at this time, but Willis’ family hopes to change that by sharing the actor’s story.
Not only does FTD impact speech and communication, but it can also impact movement such as stiffness in the muscles, poor coordination and problems walking. It can also impact a person’s behavior such as problems with judgement, loss of interest in things the person used to be interested in, and repetitive compulsive behaviors.
There currently aren’t any known risk factors for FTD except for having a family history of dementia.
Willis has not been seen out in public since his diagnosis was made public, but that recently changed. The 67 year old was recently spotted out and about in Los Angeles. He was seen wearing a beanie and a dark gray sweatshirt while inside what looks to be a store or restaurant. He was accompanied by two other men.
Willis did not speak to the camera, but if we didn’t know about his diagnosis, we wouldn’t have been able to tell that anything was wrong just by watching him. See Willis’s first known outing since his diagnosis in the video below.
Does it surprise you that Willis was recently seen out in public in Los Angeles? Do you think we will see him out in public again, or do you think this is going to be an extremely rare appearance?