A national charity has seen a surge in visitors to its website after Bruce Willis’s family went public about his dementia diagnosis last month.
The 67-year-old Hollywood actor was recently diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia following the announcement in March 2022 that the True Lies star was living with aphasia.
Since the news made headlines the Alzheimer’s Society’s website has attracted 12,000% more hits between February 14/15 and February 16/17.
The charity has recently launched a nationwide campaign highlighting intimate relationships which people have after being diagnosed with the condition which has been backed by A-list celebrities such as Colin Firth, who narrates the TV and radio advert.
Willis’s wife, Emma Heming, has recently asked the press to stop shouting at the actor after the couple have been asked for interviews whilst having coffee with a group of friends.
Heming said: "If you are someone that is looking after someone with dementia, you know how difficult and stressful it can be to get someone out into the world and just to navigate them safely, even just to get a cup of coffee."
In a Instagram video Heming said: "If you are someone that is looking after someone with dementia, you know how difficult and stressful it can be to get someone out into the world and just to navigate them safely, even just to get a cup of coffee."
She went on to ask photographers and “video people” to “keep your space” and encourage fellow caregivers or dementia care specialists to share their tips on how to take loved ones “out in the world safely”.
During a previous interview with The Bump last year Heming said: "I struggle with making the time for self-care every day. I put my family's needs above my own, which I found does not make me any kind of hero.
"That amount of care for everyone else within my household had taken a toll on my mental health and overall health, and it served no one in my family."
[ Bruce Willis was cast in Moonlighting despite the TV channel saying the role was “uncastable”. ]
