Bruce Willis’ wife cries as she marks 16th wedding anniversary amid dementia diagnosis

Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Hemming Willis has marked their 16th wedding anniversary as she continues to care for her husband through his illness.

The Die Hard star, 68, is living with frontotemporal dementia, after his family first revealed he had been diagnosed with aphasia in 2021.

Bruce, who shares two young daughters with wife Emma, 45, and three grown-up daughters with ex Demi Moore, is surrounded with love at home, with his family often sharing memories and updates on their lives together.

On Wednesday Emma marked their wedding anniversary with gorgeous photographs of the pair embracing in a sunlit garden, writing ’16 years with this special man.

‘My love and adoration for him only grows.’

But with Bruce continuing to be affected by the degenerative brain disease, it was naturally a difficult day for Emma, and she revealed she spent time crying over the heartbreaking situation.

Bruce and Emma were married 16 years ago on Wednesday (Picture: Emma Heming Willis)

Emma shared a gorgeous snap to mark the occasion but spoke candidly about her grief in a video (Picture: Emma Heming Willis)

In a video posted to her Instagram Stories, Emma said she had ‘just got off the phone with a really dear girlfriend of mine who I was able to have a good cry with.

‘It is really important to be able to have someone that you can trust with your feelings instead of just bottling them up and putting your best foot forward and just soldiering through stuff. Which I have a tendency to do.’

‘Holidays and anniversaries are hard.But for me this year it has really been about community, building a connection. And I just want to say it has been my lifeline and I just want to say thank you for that.’

On Christmas Day, Emma shared a short video depicting her family’s Christmas, and while Bruce did not feature in it, a stocking was made up for him bearing the name ‘Dad’.

Together, Bruce and Emma share daughers Evelyn, nine, and 11-year-old Mabel.

Bruce became a grandfather for the first time this year as daughter Rumer welcomed a daughter of her own (Picture: Instagram / Rumer Willis)

The legendary actor is extremely close with his family, including ex wife Demi Moore, and each of them are supporting him through his illness (Picture: Getty)

With ex Demi – who he is still close with – he has Rumer, 35, Scout, 32, and Tallulah, 29.

Bruce became a grandfather for the first time this year as his eldest daughter had a daughter of her own, naming her Louetta after her and Bruce’s two favourite musicians.

In the days after she became a mother, she shared old photographs of Bruce holding her as a baby and admitting she was missing her papa..

Frontotemporal dementia is an ‘uncommon’ form of the disease that causes the sufferer problems with behaviour and language.

There are currently no treatments for the condition.

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‘Holidays and anniversaries are hard.’