Bruce Willis smiles in rare sighting as he dons Dodgers cap on drive with bodyguard in LA amid aphasia and dementia battle

Bruce Willis smiled during a rare sighting on a Sunday drive in Los Angeles, as the actor continues his health battle with aphasia and dementia.

The Pulp Fiction actor, 69, was seated in the passenger seat of a black vehicle clad in a black Los Angeles Dodgers mesh ballcap, as the hometown team holds a 2-0 lead over the New York Yankees in the ongoing World Series.

Willis wore a black zip-up hoodie jacket with a white T-shirt on the autumn day in Southern California.

The Die Hard star appeared relaxed and in an upbeat mood amid the daytime trek.

The Sixth Sense actor is father to five daughters: Mabel Ray, 12, and Evelyn, 10, with wife Emma Heming Willis, 46; and Rumer, 36, Scout, 33, and Tallulah, 30, with ex-wife Demi Moore, 61.

Willis’ outing came less than two weeks after Heming took to Instagram with a retro shot of herself and Willis, captioning the image, ‘Doing selfies before they had a name.’

In September, Moore, 61, updated fans on her ex-spouse’s health during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, saying that ‘given the givens, he is in a stable place.’ 

Moore, who had been wed to Willis from 1987-2000, opened up on how she has advised her children to deal with the yearslong family health crisis.

‘What I say to my kids is you meet them where they’re at,’ Moore said in the appearance. ‘You don’t hold on to who they were or what you want them to be, but who they are in this moment.

‘And from that, there is such beauty and joy and loving and sweetness. When I’m in LA, I go over every week, and I really treasure the time that we all share.’

In an August 22 post on Instagram Stories, Rumer Willis shared an image of herself holding her father’s hand while answering a question about how the actor has been doing amid his health woes.

Rumer said, ‘He is great. I love him so much. Thank you.’

In May, Rumer said on the Today show that her father had been doing ‘good’ and was bonding with her one-year-old daughter Louetta, who she shares with ex Derek Richard Thomas.

‘I actually got to see him right before I came out’ to New York, she said, and ‘Lou is just starting to walk a little bit, and she was walking over to him, and it was so sweet.

‘It’s so nice because I feel like my dad is just like – he’s a girl dad, through and through. It almost unlocks that kind of little-kid, girl-dad thing. He’s so sweet with her.’

Rumer in the appearance said that she and her relatives have been forthcoming about the family health issue in hopes of spreading awareness to others in a similar circumstance.

‘Our vulnerability and transparency as a family about what he’s going through to me is so important,’ she said, ‘because if it can have any impact on another family that is struggling in any way with something like this, or bring more attention to the disease in hopes of finding a cure or anything that can be of service to anybody else, I think is really important.’

Willis is more than two years removed from his health battle going public after relatives including his daughters, wife and ex-wife issued a joint statement via Instagram March 30, 2022 announcing his aphasia diagnosis.

They said that the Hollywood icon ‘has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities.

‘As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him. This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support.

They continued: ‘We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him. As Bruce always says, “Live it up” and together we plan to do just that.’

The family subsequently issued a statement on February 16, 2023 announcing that Willis had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD), calling it ‘the most common form of dementia’ and noting that ‘there are no treatments for the disease’ currently.

‘As Bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research,’ the family said. ‘Bruce always believed in using his voice in the world to help others, and to raise awareness about important issues both publicly and privately.

‘We know in our hearts that – if he could today – he would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease and how it impacts so many individuals and their families.’

The Mayo Clinic defines aphasia as ‘a condition that affects your ability to communicate’ that ‘can affect your speech, as well as the way you write and understand both spoken and written language.’

The actor’s family did not announce what caused his bout with aphasia, which has a number of potential causes. 

The condition could occur following a head injury or stroke, or can be a predecessor to a brain tumor or Alzheimer’s disease. Patients who are living with the condition are typically treated with speech therapy and taught ways to communicate non-verbally.