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Bruce Willis’ longtime friend, executive producer Glenn Gordon Caron, has shared an update on the actor’s ongoing battle with dementia and the news is not good.
He says the 68-year-old Die Hard star’s ability to communicate has deteriorated sharply.
“My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am,” he told The Post of his visits with Bruce.
“He’s not totally verbal; he used to be a voracious reader - he didn’t want anyone to know that - and he’s not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he’s still Bruce.”
Glenn, whose eighties TV series Moonlighting saw Bruce get his big break as detective David Addison, says he has tried to visit his friend almost every month since he was first diagnosed with aphasia in March 2022 - and then dementia earlier this year.
He says he knows deep down that Bruce is still the same person, but it is as if the star is “seeing life through a screen door”.
He adds he managed to tell Bruce before he got sick that Moonlighting is returning and will now be available to stream on Hulu.
“I know he’s really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he can’t tell me that.”
Bruce’s wife Emma Heming Willis (45) also gave a recent update on her husband, saying his struggle with the debilitating condition is “hard on everyone”.
“It’s hard on the person diagnosed. It’s also hard on the family. And that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. When they say this is a family disease, it really is,” Emma told Today during World Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) Awareness Week, which ran from 24 September to 1 October.
READ MORE | Caring for Bruce Willis 'feels very doom and gloom', his wife says
In February, Bruce’s family – which included his ex-wife, Demi Moore, and their three daughters, Rumer (35), Scout (32) and Tallulah (29) – announced that he'd been diagnosed with FTD, a type of dementia that affects how people behave, how they interact with others and how they speak.
“While this is painful, it's a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis," his family said in a statement.
The announcement came a year after the actor was diagnosed with aphasia, a language disorder usually brought on by a stroke or brain injury.
READ MORE | SEE THE PICS: Bruce Willis spotted exercising months after shocking health diagnosis
Emma, who has two daughters with Bruce - Mabel (11) and Evelyn (9) - says that getting an exact diagnosis was both a blessing and a curse.
“It doesn't make it any less painful, but just being in the acceptance and just being in the know of what is happening to Bruce just makes it a little bit easier.
“There are so many beautiful things happening in our lives. It is just really important for me to look up from the grief and the sadness so that I can see what is happening around us,” she added.
She also admitted that "it’s hard to know" if the action star was aware of his health battle.
Emma, a former model turned entrepreneur, has been candid about the challenges of caring for someone with dementia and has been sharing her journey on social media.
In an emotional post earlier this year she said she has to make a conscious effort every day to do the best for herself and her family.
READ MORE | Bruce Willis' daughter Tallulah on how she came to terms with his dementia diagnosis
“I do that for myself. I do that for our two children and Bruce, who would not want me to live any other way. I don’t want it to be misconstrued that I’m good. Because I’m not good. But I have to put my best foot forward for the sake of myself and my family.”
Bruce and his family have been inundated with support from fans and friends, including fellow action star Sylvester Stallone (77), who spoke of his sadness of his longtime friend’s illness.
“Bruce is going through some really, really difficult times,” he told The Hollywood Reporter last year.
“He's been sort of incommunicado. That kills me. It’s so sad.”
In March 2022, after news broke that Bruce was stepping away from acting due to his physical circumstances, Sly shared a series of photos of his friend on Instagram, writing, “We go back a long way. Praying for the best for you and your wonderful family.”
Sources: pagesix.com, today.com, eonline.com, foxnews.com, Instagram
