Bruce Willis speaks publicly for first time since aphasia diagnosis in heartwarming video

For the first time since he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, Bruce Willis has spoken publicly in an Instagram video celebrating his 68th birthday.

The Hollywood actor has been keeping things under the radar since his FTD diagnosis was made public in February.

Demi Moore, Willis’ ex-wife, posted a video on Sunday of the family celebrating the Die Hard star’s birthday, reported The Sun.

Bruce Willis’ current wife, Emma Heming, and his daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallulah could be seen at the birthday party as well as a few of the actor’s nearest and dearest.

In the video, all of the attendees, including Willis, sang Happy Birthday and celebrated the occasion.

The actor seemed to be in good spirits, chatting to his family in between the verses of the song and singing a few lines. Willis then blew out the candles on what appeared to be a birthday pie.

As everyone sang for the actor, he appeared to stumble slightly, losing his footing a bit.

The family - including Willis - had a little chuckle when the Red actor gave his all to blowing out his candles.

After the birthday song ended, everyone in the room shouted: “Hip-Hip Hooray.”

Willis was then high-fived and hugged by his family.

Moore wrote in the caption of the Instagram post: “Happy birthday, BW! So glad we could celebrate you today. Love you and love our family. Thank you to everyone for the love and warm wishes — we all feel them.”

While fans of the actor expressed their joy at seeing the actor in a rare Instagram video, many expressed their concern when spotting a detail in the video that could’ve been easily missed.

Willis seemed to be missing one of his front teeth.

There has been no mention from his family as to what happened.

The comments were a mix of elation and worry.

Actress Rosario Dawson wrote: “Happy Birthday Bruce! Blessings to your and the family.”

One fan commented: “Even the slightest thing is the BIGGEST thing! Usually, when a person is suffering from frontotemporal dementia they don’t remember the significance of blowing out the candle. And he did it without being told to. He even commented on the dog. He was definitely lucid and a participant at the moment. I am so glad to see this! Happy Birthday, Bruce!”

One commenter pointed out: “Bruce is missing a tooth”, while another wrote: “That’s sooo heartwarming.”

This article was first published by the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.