The comedian’s third wife sat down for an emotional chat with Good Morning America, revealing the pain of losing her husband and why she believes depression and his issues with addiction were not the only reasons why Robin Williams took his own life.
“He was completely clean and sober when he died. And he had eight years of sobriety,” she said. Indeed, an autopsy confirmed there were no substances in Robin’s body at the time of his death.
Susan explained that at the time of Robin’s death, he was “just disintegrating.”
The Academy Award-winning actor was diagnosed with Diffuse Lewy Body Dementia (DLB) and doctors predicted it was likely he had only three years to live.
DLB is the second most common neurodegenerative dementia after Alzheimer’s and causes fluctuations in mental status, hallucinations and impairment of motor function.
“If Robin was lucky, he would’ve had maybe three years left. And they would’ve been hard years. And it’s a good chance he would’ve been locked up,” she told Good Morning America’s Amy Robach during their televised interview.
Susan remembers how happy they were together.
Married for three years and together for seven, Susan describes their relationship as a “dream.”
“It’s the best love I ever dreamed of. You know, it’s what I always dreamed of love would be… really based on just honour, love, respect.”
Recalling their final conversation together, on August 10, 2014, the 51-year-old remembers how she was in bed reading and he offered her a foot massage.
“I said, ‘It’s OK, honey. Not, you know, it’s OK. You don’t have to tonight.’ And I’ll never forget the look in his eyes of just, sad because he wanted to. And I wished – you know?” She said.
“Then he came back in the room a couple of times. Once to his closet and then he laughed. And he said, ‘Goodnight, my love.’ And I said, ‘Goodnight, my love.’”
Susan had told Robin the previous night to call when he woke up, but instead on August 11 she received a text that would change her world forever.
“I said [to his assistant Rebecca], ‘Call me when he’s up or have him call me when he’s up,’” Susan recalled.
“And I kept thinking, ‘How come he hasn’t called me yet?’ And then she sent me a text. It said ‘He’s not up yet. What should I do?’ I said – and in that moment, I knew there was something horribly wrong.”
Rushing home to check up on him, she remembers the heartbreak of knowing something wasn’t adding up.
“That 20-minute car ride, I just screamed the whole way, ‘Robin!’”
Robin leaves behind his greatest legacy, his children, Cody, 23, Zelda, 26, Zak, 32, pictured here with the actor’s second wife Marsha Garces.
At first she couldn’t see him because emergency responders were doing their jobs.
“And I just wanted to see my husband. And I got to see him… and I got to pray with him. And I got to tell him, ‘I forgive you 50 billion percent, with all my heart. You’re the bravest man I’ve ever known.’ You know, we were living a nightmare,” she said.
Concluding, “I think he was just saying, ‘No.’ And I don’t blame him one bit.”
You can watch Susan’s full interview here
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