Emma Heming Willis opens up about family's strength amid Bruce Willis' dementia

NEW YORK — A pair of public figures with seemingly few things in common bonded over shared experiences with caregiving and trauma during a panel on Tuesday afternoon in New York City.

Town and Country magazine’s annual Philanthropy Summit brought Emma Heming Willis, the wife of actor Bruce Willis, and “Good Morning America” co-host and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan together to speak about the care they’ve given for loved ones.

Heming Willis is caring for her husband following his diagnosis with frontotemporal dementia. Strahan dealt with a cancer diagnosis in his family last year when doctors diagnosed his then 19-year-old daughter, Isabella Strahan, with a brain tumor.

“The thing that probably broke my heart the most, that makes me get emotional, is when she looked at me,” Strahan recalled, fighting back tears. “She goes, ‘Dad, I'll do whatever it takes. I don't want to die.’”

Strahan called the comments, which occurred after Isabella’s third brain surgery, “the toughest thing I've ever heard.”

“I don't mind a coach saying, ‘You suck,’” he noted, immediately eliciting laughter in the room. “I don't mind somebody tweeting that you suck. But to hear your child say that … yeah, it definitely gets you different.”

Emma Heming Willis: Frontotemporal dementia 'is not going to take our total family down'

Both Strahan and Heming Willis recalled the initial issues they faced attempting to receive a correct diagnosis for their loved ones. The first doctor that Strahan’s daughter saw thought there was potentially an issue with her sinuses.

As for Willis, he was initially diagnosed with aphasia, which turned out to be a symptom of frontotemporal dementia, for which there is no cure. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, frontotemporal dementia "and other frontotemporal disorders are a common cause of early-onset dementia" and "gradually rob people of basic abilities — thinking, talking, walking, and socializing."

Heming Willis decided to issue a public statement on his diagnosis with frontotemporal dementia in part to raise awareness for the condition, which is the most common form of dementia found in people under the age of 60.

“I hate public speaking. My husband really got me into some crap,” Heming Willis joked. “What is the other option? The other option is, FTD just puts you in a corner and that's what it wants to do. And I'm like ... This disease will get to Bruce, but it is not going to take our total family down.”

Michael Strahan gives update on daughter Isabella Strahan

Strahan told the audience his daughter has re-learned how to talk and walk. Isabella, who revealed in July that she has been deemed "cancer free," also enrolled in summer courses to catch up on missed school work.

Both he and Heming Willis mentioned how the public’s support has buoyed them.

“I knew how beloved Bruce was, but to see the amount of love and compassion that showered on him ... I got to stand below that and feel that," Heming Willis said.

The panel took place at the Hearst Building in Manhattan. It was moderated by Katie Couric, who lost her husband Jay Monahan to colon cancer in 1998. Couric co-founded the organization “Stand Up 2 Cancer,” which has "pledged" almost $800 million "for SU2C’s innovative cancer research programs," according to its website.

The nonprofit will be featured Tuesday night during Game 4 of the World Series in New York.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Emma Heming Willis opens up about her family amid Bruce Willis' dementia