President Ronald Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis, 70, has offered advice to Bruce Willis' family as they learn to navigate his battle with frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Last week Willis' wife, Emma Heming Willis, his five children, and his ex-wife, Demi Moore, issued a statement announcing that his condition had "progressed" after initially being diagnosed with aphasia, a language and cognition disorder.
"Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces," the statement read. "While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis."
Writing in a column for The New York Times nearly 30 years after her own father announced his Alzheimer's, Davis admitted that the Willis family have a "harder road to travel than my family did" as frontotemporal dementia is "radically different."
"People with the condition can become unrecognizable in their outbursts, their aggressive and voracious behavior," she wrote in the piece. Davis further noted that there was another "curse" of FTD — that it usually strikes "younger" patients like Willis, who is 67 years old.
"My hope for Bruce Willis's family, as they go down this unpredictable and heartbreaking road, is for those around them to know that simply being there is often all you can do," Davis wrote. "There is no sidestepping the grief, the pain, the helplessness. There is just, maybe, a human wall of comfort to lean on."
Davis also recalled how she "experienced" the "human wall of comfort" after her father announced his diagnosis, with strangers asking the family how they were doing. She added that the Willis family would likely not know how much their public announcement will affect other families going through similar situations.
"And there are others whom the Willis family will never meet, other families who have been invaded by this cruel disease, who today feel a little less lonely because of the decision to announce a diagnosis that rips your soul apart," she wrote.
In their statement, Willis' family said they hoped to raise FTD awareness.
"Today there are no treatments for the disease, a reality that we hope can change in the years ahead," the statement read. "As Bruce's condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research.
"Bruce always believed in using his voice in the world to help others, and to raise awareness about important issues both publicly and privately," the statement continued. "We know in our hearts that — if he could today — he would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease and how it impacts so many individuals and their families."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.