“There’s a sweetness. He’s always been this kind of macho dude and there’s like a, fragile is not the right word, but just a tenderness that maybe being Bruce Willis might not have allowed him in a certain way.”
Bruce Willis has developed a “sweetness” amid his battle with frontotemporal dementia, says Rumer Willis. Photo / Getty Images
In November, Rumer admitted Bruce doesn’t always recognise her any more but she still feels “grateful” to be able to connect with him.
She said in an Instagram Stories video: “I’m so happy and grateful that I still get to go and hug him.
“I’m so grateful that when I go over there, and I give him a hug, whether he recognises me or not, that he can feel the love I’ve given him, and I can feel it back from him.
“That I still see a spark of him, and he can feel the love that I’m giving.
Rumer Willis says her father Bruce has shown a sweetness and gentler side in his dementia fight. Photo / Getty Images
“So that feels really nice.
“I just feel grateful that I get to go over there with [my daughter] Louetta and we get to spend time with him, and I get to feel the love that he has for me, and that I can love him and be with him.”
Bruce also has anosognosia, a condition where the brain can’t recognise one or more health conditions the person has and is commonly seen in people with mental health disorders.