bruce willis health: Trauma Behind The Action Hero

When you think of Bruce Willis, a man hurling from buildings and dodging bullets as he saves the world from near apocalypse might be what comes to mind. Well, Bruce isn’t out there fighting bad guys in the latest Die Hard sequel these days. Instead he is headed for a new kind of praxis, his health.

Health News That Had Everyone Talking

Fans were thrown a curveball by bruce willis health when he revealed in January 2022 that he would be walking away from acting all together. The reason? Aphasia (affects his communication) For a character as celebrated for his rapid-fire quips and tough-guy speeches, it was grim reading. Like having John McClane who can’t finish a sentence — the ultimate twist!

Now, Bruce isn’t quite out of the fight altogether. OK, so he doesn’t jump out of helicopters any more but Willis is still the man. Because we all know you can’t keep a good action hero down.

What is aphasia, and how does it work?

Aphasia sounds like a sweet name for an action film. It really is a very serious medical condition that impairs your ability to speak, understand spoken language and read or write. It is often due to a stroke or head injury, and in Bruce’s case it was slowly over the course of an illness. It would be like your brain’s Wi-Fi just goes down right before you plant to make a crucial point. Frustrating, isn’t it?

What causes aphasia? The damage in a brain’s language centers, well. By then, Lombard said, it’s like trying to navigate home when half the street signs have been removed. This is what communication can be like for a person with aphasia. They know their message but just can’t find the right words to convey it.

The bruce willis health We All Love

But first, a callback to the Bruce Willis we know and love. From that iconic introduction as John McClane in the Die Hard series, to his colourful performance in Pulp Fiction – Bruce has offered up some of retrospectively hall-of-fame silver screen moments. He was the man who had us convinced that a single hero could outwit, while barefoot no less terrorists attempting to kill off an entire skyscraper worth of people.

Of course, he was the ghost psychologist in The Sixth Sense and lets not forget his appearance as Maester Pycelle on Game of Thrones. (Spoiler alert: the dude was dead all along!) Of course, Bruce Willis is just an action hero guy and kind of a semi-serious actor he can sing too. Who can forget his The Return of Bruno album? No? Yeah, we can just erase that from history.

How Is Bruce Handling It?

How does Bruce take to this new phase of his life? Now, his family says he’s handling it quite well. He had his wife, Emma Hemmings Willis and all six of their daughters there with him cheering him on. If you’ve been following his social media efforts, Bruce is still smiling and joking — all channeling that ever-enigmatic spirit of the Boss.beloved_bossling_fojjang / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

His family released a statement: “Bruce has always gruffly scoffed at modern society. And as you might expect his prognosis [is] not great… but if he has committed ten thousand sins and misdeeds in life, it is that crackpot good fortune to have had so many people love him,” according to The Courier-Mail. I tell myself, we can conquer this together — as a mother and daddy bear protecting our young. Its nice to see his family unite. In the end, it is all about family–if you’re a Hollywood star or just an average Joe. Yippee ki-yay, indeed.

The Day-to-Day Reality of Aphasia

Living with aphasia is not easy. It’s more akin to navigating a minefield blindfolded. Simple things like grabbing a coffee or having a simple conversation can become herculean tasks that leave us feeling small and unimportant. But it Bruce is the right man to do so.

He is living a very different life to his normal routine. Opting for therapy sessions with Bruses working alongside speech therapists, communication exercises or otherwise the quiet times. And remember, this is the man who drove away villains covered in blood wearing a tank-top. He survived Nakatomi Plaza just fine.

bruce willis health: Future Thoughts «My Kind Of Scene

What Does The Future Hold For Bruce Willis? Will we even ever see him on the big screen again? Never say never. As much as aphasia is a tough disorder, Bruce will not retire his actor hat indefinitely. He could be involved with the industry — behind the camera or in roles perforable by someone dealing with his condition.

And well, if Bruce doesnt do another pictures happy friggin ending then he is already in the history books of Hollywood. He has more iconic performances than most actors could ever hope for. Additionally, thanks to our wonderful technology, who knows when we will see the return of a CGI Bruce Willis cameo in another low quality video blockbuster. (You can hear it in the cloud: Bruce, “Welcome to the party, pal!”)

One Last Note: awareness is key

The one positive of Bruce Willis’ condition is that it has shone a light on aphasia — something most would-be unfamiliar with. And that’s a good thing. It means once one becomes aware, they will understand and then support. While for the odd person like Bruce, if his journey helps even one faraway sufferer of aphasia feel less alone in this cruel tribulation then it’s a win.

So we wish for more smiles from Bruce, the joy of time spent with his family and a listless existence that be bring him back to what he knows best — doing whatever in inches forward at home. 1/2 We all love a great comeback, and what has Bruce Willis shown us but that you never slate his name out (sorry for the pun). Bruce Willis is still an action star, whether he’s in real life dodging bullets or if his battles are making sense of aphasia. And that will always be the case.

Hang in there, Bruce — we’re all rooting for you one catchphrase at a time!

A Bit of Humor to End On

If Bruce Willis’ health woes were a Die Hard film, the tagline would no doubt be “Old habits die hard… but so does old man Brucie! And Bruce, may you yippee-ki-yay brother from the next room over for many years to comeпис)