Robin Williams, one of the world’s finest performers and comedians,ย passed away 10 years ago.
Millions of people were moved by this extraordinary artist. His smile was infectious, and he had the capacity to make everyone laugh. So, when he took his own life, his followers struggled to comprehend how someone so cheery and entertaining could die in such a tragic way.
However, there was more to the story than meets the eye.
The autopsy revealed that Williams had Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), a neurological disease in which protein deposits known as Lewy bodies form in nerve cells in brain regions involved in thinking, memory, and movement (motor control), rather than Prskinson’s disease, as doctors had previously claimed.
Williams’ health deteriorated in his later years. The man who could recall hundreds of lines without making a single error began to have difficulty remembering on set. Unfortunately, this upset him much and caused worry. “It was a period for him of intense searching and frustration,” his son Zak told Max Lugavere on the podcast The Genius Life, according to Fox News. “It’s just devastating.”
William’s wife, Susan Schneider Williams, also spoke out about the actor’s misdiagnosis. “All four doctors I spoke with after reviewing his data said it was one of the worst diseases they’d encountered. “He had about 40% loss of dopamine neurons, and almost no neurons were free of Lewy bodies throughout the entire brain and brainstem,” she wrote in Neurology.
Susan described Williams’ health condition prior to his d3ath, stating that it deteriorated and no one knew what to expect next. It all began with the actor experiencing stomach cramps, heartburn, and digestive problems, and later developed a resting tremor in his left hand, which was thought to be caused by a previous shoulder injury.
According to fresh accounts, the actor’s final days were torturous and chaotic. Susan described her husband as “living a nightmare…”
The passing of William affected his closest friends. One of them, Sir Billy Connolly, commented of William’s choice to commit himself, saying, “You have to give a guy the position that he’s wise enough to make up his own mind.” When asked if he wouldn’t have attempted to save his life, Connolly responded, “I don’t think so.”
Connolly, who has Parkinson’s disease, the same ailment Williams was misdiagnosed with, stated that he and the late actor used to talk on the phone, expressing their great friendship and respect for one another.
During the week before his d3ath, William called Connolly and invited him to supper.
“He called and said, ‘Let’s have dinner,’ and during the meal, he said, ‘I love you.’ I said thank you very much. He asked, ‘Do you believe me?’ I said, ‘Of course I do. He said, ‘Believe me, I love you.’ I responded, ‘That’s fantastic.
โI thought โhow weird, how weird for him to say that, itโs not like his usual.โ He was dead on the weekend,โ Connolly continued.
