Bruce Willis’ wife defends decision to move star into special care home

Bruce Willis’ wife has hit back at criticism after she moved the star into a home where he can receive ‘around the clock care’.

Two years ago, the family of the Die Hard actor announced that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which came a year after his retirement from Hollywood.

Last week, Bruce’s wife Emma, 47, gave an emotional sit-down interview with Diane Sawyer, in which she spoke about the difficulties of the 70-year-old’s diagnosis and the tough decision she’s had to make about his care.

After critics accused her of neglecting her husband by sending him to a care home instead of continuing to serve as his primary caretaker, Emma took to Instagram.

She posted a video discussing the intricacies of her decision, captioning the post: ‘Too often, caregivers are judged quickly and unfairly by those who haven’t lived this journey or stood on the front lines of it.

‘Sharing openly may invite opinions, but more importantly, it creates connection and validation for those actually navigating the realities of caregiving every day.

‘That’s who I share for and so I can build a deeper connection with a community that understands this journey ????’

She also said in the video that those who criticise often ‘don’t have the experience to back it up.’

She continued: ‘The truth is, the opinions are so loud and they’re so noisy, but if they don’t have any experience of this, they don’t get a say.’

In her interview with Diane Sawyer, Emma said of her decision to move Bruce into a home: ‘I knew first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters, you know, he wouldn’t want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.’

Noise causes agitation for people with FTD, and Emma had to ‘isolate’ the family and stop having guests over before moving Bruce to a home where he could receive around the clock care.

‘It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. Bruce is in really great health overall, you know. It’s just his brain that is failing him,’ she said.

‘The language is going, and, you know, we’ve learned to adapt. And we have a way of communicating with him, which is just a different, a different way.’

Emma went on to explain that she now spends breakfast and dinner with him every day and that he receives regular visits from their daughters and his friends and other family members.

When asked how Bruce reacted to the news that he would be moving out of his family home and into a care facility, she shared: ‘I don’t think he ever connected the dots.’