Hollywood legend Bruce Willis shared some positive news to share on social media, almost a year after first revealing he had been diagnosed with an irreversible cognitive condition known as aphasia. He will eventually no longer be able to recognize words or speak.
Willis and his 28-year-old daughter, Tallulah, posted a light-hearted father/daughter picture to Instagram, with the latter captioning the post, “high drama club ~~ life skills ~~ fingers crossed I eat a veggie this week LMAO.”
View this post on Instagram
Though neither here nor there, Tallulah is also the name of the sled in Cool Runnings and means “peace be the journey” for the Jamaican underdogs.
Given the Die Hard actor’s tragic condition, it is good to see him having fun and smiling with his daughter. The Willis family also shared other good news recently, as another of his daughters, Rumer (also from a previous marriage with Demi Moore), revealed that she was pregnant with her first child.
Under that social media post, Demi Moore wrote: “Entering my hot kooky unhinged grandma era.”
As previously mentioned, Willis is suffering from what is called aphasia. According to the Mayo Clinic, it “is a condition that robs you of the ability to communicate. It can affect your ability to speak, write and understand language, both verbal and written” and can often manifest after a head injury or stroke. There might also be more underlying degenerative pathologies, but either way, the end result is devastating news to the actor and his family.
Rumer Willis broke this news last March, sharing a lengthy post on Instagram which revealed the extent of her father’s condition.
“To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities,” the post read. “As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”
“This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support. We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him,” the message continued.
“As Bruce always says, ‘Live it up’ and together we plan to do just that,” it concluded. “Love, Emma, Demi, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel, & Evelyn.”
The Daily Wire had reported around the same time that Willis’ condition was becoming apparent on the set of a film when he struggled to remember basic lines and cues. The Daily Wire wrote:
“Directors, including Mike Burns (“Out of Death”) and Jesse V. Johnson (“White Elephant”), said they noticed Willis wasn’t his usual self during recent projects. They said his lines had to be shortened and monologues eliminated because he couldn’t remember what he was supposed to say. Sources claimed the “Pulp Fiction” star had to wear an “earwig” device which would allow his lines to be delivered to him rather than memorized.
Burns said he told the screenwriter that Willis’s’ part in “Out of Death” would need to be cut “by about 5 pages,” The Los Angeles Times reported.
“I could see it firsthand and I realized that there was a bigger issue at stake here and why I had been asked to shorten his lines,” Burns told the publication.
"*" indicates required fields