Bruce Willis and wife Emma help couple facing young dementia diagnosis

Bruce Willis and his wife person helped a mates facing their ain young frontotemporal dementia diagnosis.

When Emma Heming Willis, 47, watched a video of Sean Durbin, 58, and his wife, Lisa Ihnat-Durbin, 50, telling their story, she recognized nan courageousness it takes to move individual hardship into nationalist defense and teamed up pinch them to raise awareness.

Sean, from Mentor, Ohio, was diagnosed pinch nan information aft he recovered his words slipping distant mid-sentence.

Now he and woman Lisa usage Willis’ test to thief explicate his information to friends and family.

Now, alongside Cleveland Clinic and Emma, they’re moving to grow awareness, advocacy, and resources for families facing FTD.

Sean first noticed subtle changes past twelvemonth erstwhile he was 57.

Concerned, he turned to Lisa, who urged him to activity aesculapian evaluations.

Those led to a test of frontotemporal dementia, confirmed by Cleveland Clinic neurologist Dr. Jagan Pillai.

FTD is simply a group of encephalon disorders affecting nan frontal and temporal lobes.

It impacts language, behavior, and comprehension, and often develops earlier than Alzheimer’s disease.

Bruce Willis, 70, was diagnosed pinch nan progressive encephalon illness in 2023.

For Sean and Lisa, explaining nan test to others has been 1 of nan hardest parts.

They’ve recovered themselves referencing Bruce Willis’ ain travel to thief group understand.

“It was conscionable easier to say, ‘It’s nan aforesaid point Bruce Willis has,’” Lisa said successful a video shared by Cleveland Clinic.

“Then group could inquire questions and commencement to understand.”

Willis’s information has helped put a spotlight connected FTD.

A study published successful Innovation successful Aging by Dr. Pillai and colleagues recovered that wide sum of his test has importantly improved nationalist knowing of nan disease.

Now, Cleveland Clinic has teamed up pinch Sean, Lisa, and Emma to grow consciousness and beforehand entree to resources for younger families dealing pinch FTD.

“You person this benignant of communicative successful your mind of really your life is going to play retired and past to spot it wholly ripped from you is conscionable heartbreaking,” Emma said successful nan video.

“You person to benignant of fig retired your caller section of your life.”

She added: “When you amended yourself and understand nan disease, you tin amended support yourself arsenic good arsenic your person.”

Lisa describes “advocacy” arsenic a “huge part” of bringing greater consciousness to FTD.

“Thank you for stepping into those shoes,” she added, referencing Emma’s openness successful sharing her caregiving travel pinch nan public.

Although location are presently nary treatments for FTD, doctors accent nan value of early diagnosis.

Identifying nan illness sooner provides families pinch clip to scheme ahead, entree support services, and moreover participate successful objective trials.

Most importantly, it helps patients and loved ones make consciousness of nan often-confusing changes they’re experiencing.

For nan Durbins, gratitude and honesty stay nan focus. “I noticed astatine times, like, I couldn’t rather get my words out,” Sean said, recalling that he erstwhile could “verbalize” himself easily.

“That’s erstwhile I first noticed I was struggling.”

Lisa sees spot successful their expertise to look nan information together.

“We had our wedding day and he conscionable said, ‘You know, I deliberation we’re stronger than ever together.’”

She added: “We’re aligned pinch nan connection of wanting to get nan connection out.

“I’m grateful each time that I person and each infinitesimal I person pinch Sean, and that hasn’t changed.”