By Page Six | Created at 2025-01-16 20:07:46 | Updated at 2025-01-16 23:45:02
3 hours ago
Bruce Willis thanked first responders involved in tackling the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires in a rare outing earlier this week.
The actor — who is battling dementia — was seen shaking hands and chatting with police officers in an Instagram video posted Thursday by his wife, Emma Heming.
“Spotting a first responder, Bruce never missed a chance to show his gratitude with a heartfelt handshake and a ‘thank you for your service,'” Heming, 46, captioned the black-and-white footage.
She added that “yesterday was no different ❤️🤍💙.”
In the clip, which was set to the tune of Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California,” Willis, 69, sported a light-colored corduroy jacket and dark pants, which he paired with a New York Yankees baseball cap.
Tallulah Willis — his youngest daughter with his first wife, Demi Moore — commented beneath the upload, “This makes my heart so freaking full.”
The actor’s family announced his aphasia diagnosis in March 2022, simultaneously lamenting that he would be “stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”
Aphasia can affect a person’s ability to speak, write and understand language, both verbal and written, and it typically occurs after a stroke or a head injury.
Though Bruce’s loved ones did not reveal the cause of his aphasia, he sustained various on-set injuries throughout his lengthy career.
Less than a year later, in February 2023, the “Die Hard” star’s family revealed he had received the “cruel” diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia.
“While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis,” they shared at the time via the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration’s website.
“FTD is a cruel disease that many of us have never heard of and can strike anyone. For people under 60, FTD is the most common form of dementia, and because getting the diagnosis can take years, FTD is likely much more prevalent than we know,” they explained.
“Today there are no treatments for the disease, a reality that we hope can change in the years ahead. As Bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research.”
The statement — which was signed by Heming, Moore and all five of Bruce’s daughters — made sure to note that if the patriarch “could” respond to his situation, he would want to help spread awareness and bring “global attention and connectedness” to others suffering from the “debilitating disease.”
The “Pulp Fiction” star and Heming — who married in March 2009 — are parents to Mabel Willis, 12, and Evelyn Willis, 10, while he and Moore, 62, share Rumer Willis, 36, and Scout Willis, 33, in addition to Tallulah, 30.
The Willis clan lives in LA, where two major blazes — the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire — continue to burn.
As of Thursday, the fires — which sparked on Jan. 7 — had killed at least 25 people and demolished more than 40,000 acres.
