Susan Schneider described her marriage to her late husband, Robin Williams, as “the best love I ever dreamed of.” The pair were married for seven years prior to the Oscar-winning actor’s death in August 2014, and now, more than a year after his passing, Schneider has spoken out for the first time in a new interview with Good Morning America.
The graphic designer insisted that her husband was not suicidal and was sober at the time of his death, noting that his new diagnosis of Lewy body dementia was causing him to harm himself.
“My best friend was sinking, you know,” she said. “It was what was going on inside of his brain, the chemical warfare. Lewy body dementia killed Robin. It’s what took his life.”
Throughout the interview, Schneider remained emotional about the loss of her husband. She seemed most upset when recalling the morning she learned of his death. She had left early to get to work without seeing her husband first. Her assistant went to check on him and found him, calling Schneider in a panic.
“That 20-minute car ride, I just screamed the whole way,” she said of returning back to her home. “I got to tell him, ‘I forgive you with my whole heart. You’re the bravest man I’ve ever known.’ We were living a nightmare.”
Things had seemed normal the night before his death, even better than usual. Schneider recalled their final conversation, saying, “I was getting in bed, and he came in the room a couple of times, once to his closet, and he said ‘goodnight my love!’ And then he came back again, he came out with his iPad and he looked like he had something to do, and that was like ‘I think he’s getting better.’ And then he said, ‘Goodnight.’ That was the last.”
