Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, makes a heartbreaking plea with the actor’s fans as he continues to battle dementia.
The 68-year-old retired from acting in March last year after it was announced that he was diagnosed with aphasia, which affects comprehension and speech.
Earlier this year, the family announced that the Die Hard actor had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, which are the result of damage to neurons in the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain.
People with the condition have significant changes in their personalities and others lose their ability to use language properly.
The family decided to go public with the diagnosis to raise awareness of frontotemporal dementia and keep fans updated with Bruce’s journey.
Emma recently took to social media and shared a heartbreaking plea with her husband’s fans after a nurse opened up about how patients with dementia are sometimes treated.
Emma shared a video from nurse Jacqueline who had expressed her sadness at how some caregivers see patients with the condition.
In the video, Jacqueline said she was administering foot care to patients at a facility and asked the caregivers if se should see other patients before ending her shift.
“I’m like ‘what about that lady, what about what lady?’ And the caregiver tells me: ‘Oh, she has dementia, she doesn’t matter.’
“I got quiet, I didn’t know what to say. All I could say was I’m going to take a look at her feet anyway. Look at her foot, trimmed up some toenails, didn’t even charge because, obviously, this lady was missing a level of respect.”
As soon as the nurse hopped into her car, she said: “Those with dementia matter. Their feelings still matter.”
Heartbroken Emma shared the video, saying: “I know my community knows this. But let’s spread this message around as a reminder to others to never be dismissive to anyone in cognitive decline.
“Thank you @yournursefortoday for your care and raising your voice.”
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If someone loses an arm or leg, generally we still treat them with respect, why on earth would you treat someone who has lost part of their brain any differently??!!
I have worked with people with dementia and Alzheimer’s for the past 42 years. I absolutely loved my job to put a smile on their face and give them a hug and hold their hand. Was an absolute privilege. I think the nurse that made that statement picked the wrong career. Everybody deserves to be treated with dignity and respect no matter what their condition is.
Many make the mistake of trying to make the person with dementia fit into our perception of the world, correcting and scolding, when in reality it is far easier for us to fit into their altered perception of the world.
Many years ago I ran a care home, we had a dementia unit. When I took it on it was scheduled to have a quiet room on the dementia unit. Really, how many units become gods waiting rooms, I changed it to a craft room. We had one gentle man who used to be a fire man, he wouldn’t go to bed, so we , the staff and I , entered his reality, he thought he was still that fireman of many years ago. So we played along with him, and to get him to go to bed we would let him know that he was up early for parade so should rest, he slept all night. That was his reality.
We need to remember Who these people were, who they still are deep inside and honour that in how we treat them .