Bruce Willis has spoken out for the first time following his dementia diagnosis, with his wife Emma sharing her “grief” on Instagram.
Hollywood star Bruce turned 68 yesterday (Sunday March 19) and was surrounded by love from his family on his birthday.
Clips shared on social media showed the retired film legend blowing out candles with his wife, ex-wife Demi Moore and daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallulah.
But while Bruce could be heard speaking in the footage, Emma revealed her family’s struggle with Bruce’s devastating condition in a separate, emotional post.
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Bruce Willis celebrates birthday with family
The video shared on Demi’s account showed Bruce’s nearest and dearest singing Happy Birthday to him.
Bruce also joined in at points during the song – and also enthusiastically blew out candles on a birthday pie.
However, at one point, Die Hard star Bruce did seem to stumble slightly.
But his friends and family remained joyful as he waved his hands along with the singing. And he also joined in with a ‘hooray’ as they continued to cheer him on.
Demi, who was married to the Pulp Fiction actor between 1987 and 2000, wrote in the caption of her post: “Happy birthday, BW!
“So glad we could celebrate you today. Love you and love our family.
“Thank you to everyone for the love and warm wishes — we all feel them.”
Bruce Willis’ wife Emma on her ‘grief’
On her account, Emma – who shares two daughters born in 2012 and 2014 with Bruce – fought back tears as she marked Bruce’s birthday with a moving upload.
Addressing her 700,000 Insta followers, Emma said: “So today is my husband’s birthday. I have started the morning by crying.
“As you can see by my swollen eyes and snotty nose… I just think it’s important you see all sides of this.
I do have times of sadness every day. Grief every day.
“I always get this message, or people always tell me: ‘Oh you’re so strong, I don’t know how you do it.’
“I’m not given a choice. I wish I was. But I’m also raising two kids in this.
“So sometimes in our lives we have to put our big girl panties on and get to it. And that’s what I’m doing.”
The resolute 44-year-old also likened how she can feel about her husband’s condition to “grief”.
She added, poignantly: “But I do have times of sadness every day. Grief every day.
“And I’m really feeling it today on his birthday.”
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