Ronald Reagan’s Daughter Offers Advice After Bruce Willis Is Diagnosed With Dementia

Last week, we reported that the Hollywood star Bruce Willis had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia at the age of 67 nearly one year after he had to retire from acting due to aphasia. Now, the daughter of the former President Ronald Reagan, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for years, is speaking out to offer advice to the Willis family.

Davis Discusses Willis’ Diagnosis 

Patti Davis, the 70 year-old daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, expressed her concern for the Willis family in an op-ed for The New York Times.

“Bruce Willis and his family may have a harder road to travel than my family did,” she wrote. “Frontotemporal dementia is radically different from Alzheimer’s. People with the condition can become unrecognizable in their outbursts, their aggressive and voracious behavior.”

Davis went on to explain that there are “two main variants” of the diagnosis, with one impacting behavior and the other being aphasia, which affects language. She added that it can be “traumatic” for someone to lose their language comprehension.

“That’s the other curse of frontotemporal dementia,” she stated. “It usually strikes people when they are younger, often in their 40s or 50s.”

Willis is 67 years-old and revealed his aphasia diagnosis last year. 

Related: Bruce Willis Receives Devastating Dementia Diagnosis

Davis’ Hope For Willis Family

Davis, who launched the group Beyond Alzheimer’s for caregivers and families, had some advice for the Willis family, as well as for those who are close to them. 

“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,” she wrote. “There is no sidestepping the grief, the pain, the helplessness. There is just, maybe, a human wall of comfort to lean on.”

Davis concluded by praising the Willis family for going public with their loved one’s diagnosis, saying that “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.”

Related: Bruce Willis Retires From Acting After Devastating Diagnosis

Davis Discusses Father’s Alzheimer’s Battle

Earlier in the op-ed, Davis opened up about her father penning a letter to the country explaining his Alzheimer’s diagnosis back in 1994, five years after he had left office. It was her mother who called Davis to let her know that they were going public in this letter.

“She said it was his idea, and she was so proud of his decision,” Davis recalled. 

“I wasn’t surprised – of course he would want the country to know,” she continued. “His love and loyalty to America ran deep. And I shared my mother’s pride in him for being so honest. She said he had just sat down, taken pen and paper and begun writing.”

Reagan tragically died in 2004 at the age of 93 after battling his disease valiantly for years. His beloved wife Nancy followed him 12 years later at the age of 94 after suffering from congestive heart failure.

Related: Ronald Reagan Couldn’t Stop Laughing When Don Rickles Roasted Him

Willis Family Announces His Dementia Diagnosis 

The Willis family made the sad announcement about his dementia diagnosis in an Instagram post last week. 

“Our family wanted to start by expressing our deepest gratitude for the incredible outpouring of love, support and wonderful stories we have all received since sharing Bruce’s original diagnosis,” they wrote. “In the spirit of that, we wanted to give you an update about our beloved husband, father and friend since we now have a deeper understanding of what he is experiencing.”

After what she went through with her father, Davis knows all too well what the Willis family is going through right now. We applaud her for voicing her support for them publicly, and we will continue to pray for them during this difficult time.