Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Scarlett O'Toole

Bruce Willis given heartbreaking 'reason to fight even harder' amid dementia struggle

Bruce Willis has been given "a reason to fight even harder" as the iconic actor continues to battle dementia.

Despite his illness, the 68-year-old recently shared an emotional moment with his family as he was introduced to his newborn granddaughter.

Bruce became a grandparent for their first time back in April when his daughter Rumer Willis gave birth to a baby girl, Louetta Isley Thomas Willis.

The Die Hard star left his family in tears as he embraced his granddaughter for the first time.

A source revealed: "It was such an emotional moment — so many feelings. Rumer was in tears. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. It was beautiful and bittersweet."

Bruce Willis has been getting support from his family (Instagram)

They said Bruce's dementia struggles have "been tough for everyone", but said the family were able to share an extra special moment when he met Louetta.

The source also said Bruce was given a reason to "fight even harder" after the sweet encounter.

"Meeting his first grandchild brought the entire family even that much closer. Rumer couldn't wait — she brought the baby to her dad right away. It felt as if Bruce had received a boost of energy.

The newborn has given Bruce 'a reason to fight even harder' (demimoore/Instagram)

"He didn't say this, but his granddaughter gave him a reason to fight even harder. The power of pure love in that moment was very intense. Everyone felt it. She's like an angel from heaven," the source told In Touch Weekly.

Bruce shares 34-year-old Rumer with his ex-wife Demi Moore, with the former couple also parents to Tallulah, 29, and Scout, 31. Bruce has two children with his current wife Emma Willis - Mabel, 11, and Evelyn, nine.

Tallulah recently admitted she suspected her father was sick "for a long time" before he received his dementia diagnosis.

She said his symptoms started as a "kind of vague unresponsiveness", which his family assumed was a result of "Hollywood hearing loss".

When Bruce's unresponsiveness worsened, the 29-year-old said she took it to heart and thought he had simply moved on with his new family.

"Later that unresponsiveness broadened, and I sometimes took it personally. He had had two babies with my stepmother, Emma Heming Willis, and I thought he'd lost interest in me," she wrote in an emotional essay for Vogue.

"Though this couldn't have been further from the truth, my adolescent brain tortured itself with some faulty math," Tallulah continued.

* Follow Mirror Celebs on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.