started tonight this is "nightline." >> tonight, breaking her silence. robyn williams' widow speaking out for the first time about his sea correctctast and mysterious disease that would havee devastating affects on them both. the love of her life spiraled down before h suicide. >> i just screamed, robin, what did you do? the flag unfurled. the first pitch. military tributes at athletic events can be heartwarming but sometimes these acts of patriotism can also cost taxpayers millions. totoght the sports league's responding to our investigation. and to the rescue. >> oh, my god. >> how this parachute saved this plane from a deadly crash in the

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of hard stools. good evening. we begin tonight w wh robin williams' widow susan, silent for more than a year after the beloved actor and her beloved

opening up in an emotional interview with abc's amy robach about her previously undetected medical condition that changed everything. >> your last conversation with robin, what was it? >> it was time for bed. it was getting late. he said, good nighgh my loveve i said, good night, my love. and then he came back again and he looked like he had something to do. and that was like, i think he's getting better. i thought, this is good. then he said, good night. good night. that was the last. >> reporter: tonight, susan williams is sharing for the first time the private pain she has endured since losing her beloved husband robin williams who took his own life last year. now susan is ready to s the record straight about yet another illness, beyond the depression and the parkinson's he was diagnosed with, a mysterious illness that was also eating away at her famous

husband's brilliant comedic mind. >> most people think your husband killed himself because was depresesd. >> no. lewy body dementia killed rocks bin. >> it's a body disorder that attacks the brain. >> the only way to diagnose it absolutely is autopsy. the lewy body dementia, it's so rapid, there is no cure. it's really just about managing it. if robin was lucky he would have had maybe three years left. and they wouldld have beenenard years and it'ss a good chance he would have been locked up. >> reporter: his unexpected death came all too soon for his family and his millions of adoring fans. he was known for his quicksilver wit in "mrs. doubtfire." >> i'm a hippo granny, dance to your drop. >> reporter: but also for his quiet gravitas like in "goooo will hunting."

much more than just a comedian, he was her best friend. >> how would you describe robin the husband? >> just a dream. the best love i ever dreamed of. >> reporter: robin and sue an had a seven-year relationship, a happy and very private three-year marriage. >> how did you first meet? >> we actually several times have said thank you steve jobs because we met at the apple store. it was this immediate sense of comfort and a knowing of each other. >> when we think of robin williams this larger than life, big hearted guy, funny, as funny as funny gets. >> fussy, fussy, fussy. >> it's funny because i wouldld hear that from peoeoe a lot. how doo y y manage. is he always like that? that's his job. >> reporter: on august 11 last year life took a drastic turn. susan went to work that morning thinking he was still asleep. >> i said call me when he's up. she sent me a text and said he's

what should i do? i said, in that moment inew there was something horribly wrong. called me back. >> what did she say? >> i can't -- i can't even -- i'm sorry. that 20-minute car ride. robin. >> yes. i got t pray with himimnd i iot to tel him, i forgive you 50 million percent, with all my heart. you're the bravest man i've ever known. you know, we were living a nightmare. >> reporter: that nightmare at its worst in the months leading up to his suicide. this 63-year-old was secretly battling depression, anxiety, and paranoia which drove him to takeke his own life. >> paranoid? > apparentlyy at the end, yes.

we would be out at dinner and if people were looking at him because people couldn't help themselves, he would say, are they giving me the stink eye? no, they're freaked out b bse you're robin williams. >> reporter: throughout his life robin had been open about his struggles with addiction and depression. both in stand-up -- >> as a alcoholic -- >> reporter: and in candid interviews like this one with diane sawyer in 2006. >> you look down, it's a voice, quiet voice that goes, jump. it's the same voice, the same voice goes just one. voice that goes, jump. and the ideaeaf just one. >> reporter: susan says by the time robin passed he had been sober for eight years. but what no one knew is that while robin was still aliviv he wass suffering froro that debilitating brain disorder lewy body dementia. >> lewy body dementia is a complex disorder with many presentations. the key thing about understanding it is that it can present with cognitive symptoms,

with motor symptoms, with neuropsych trick symptoms, so it can react in many different ways. >> reporter: lewy body dementia affects millionon of americans, lewy bodies affect chemicals in the brain causing it to slowly deteriorate. symptoms can include hallucination, confusion, memory loss, trouble sleeping, anxiety, and depression. >> when did you first notice that something wasn't quite right? >> november of 2013 he had a little gut pain. we never found out what it was. thth it went to,,ext month, it s another symptom. it just kept going through this different symptoms, constipation, urinary problems. they got worse and worse. we were supposed to go to some friends and at the last minute we had to back out because robin was laying -- he was laying in

with me. i said, i know, honey. i know there is. and we're going get to the bottom of this, i swear. we're going to figure this out. and inside my mind for the first we? >> reporter: suesan says that robin's symptoms continued to get worse and while filming "midnight at the museum" he was suffering from debilitating anxiety and paranoia. >> his fears and insecurities were killing him. his brain was full out attacking him by now. with what i know today he had chemical warfare going on inside of his head. >> reporter: after months of testing some answers finally came in may of that year. robin was diagnosed with early stages of parkinson's sease. >>id h h e er do anything during this timim where you were afraid for his physical safety? >> yes. yeah. july 24th. i was in the shower. i saw him lingering at the sink

i opened up the door and there was blood. this towel was so soaked with blood. he was just d dbing his head. anan i just screamed, robin, what happened? what did you do? he pointed to the door. and i said, did you hit your head? and he nodded. he couldn't verbalize it. and what was so scary in that moment was the lack of affection on his face about it, thaha i feltlt like, my best friend wawa sinking, you know. my husband was disintegrateing before my eyes. >> reporter: that last week the doctors were going to check him into a facility for neurocognizant testing. they told you three years left? >> one to three. >> was this robin's way of taking contrololback?

i think he wassust saying no. and i don't blame him one bit. i have sent off his last two years of medical reports, coroner's report, brain scan, off to four doctors. they all said across the board, this is one of the worst cases we've ever seen of lewy body dementia. and there was nothing more that anyone could have done. and that was comfortg to hear. >> reporter: ask anyone and they'll tell you their favorite robin williams character, perhaps genie from "aladdin" or that energetic professor in "dead poet's society" -- >> we read because we are members of the human race and the human race is filled with passion. >> reporter: but for his wife susan, well, she has her very own. >> my forite movie of robin williams was "robin williams

actor. best movie in the world. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm amy robach in new york. > next, oh, say, can you see, patriotism. our investigation. plus, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a parachute? an unlikely rescue in the middle of the road. sure had a lot on my mind when i got out of the hospital after a dvt blood clot. what about my family? my li'l buddy? and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital but i i ndered if this was t t right treatment for me. then my doctor told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots, but eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. knowing eliquis had both... turned around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to.

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it's before almost every professional sporting event, likely puts a lump in your throat or tear in your eye. men and women of uniform waving the stars and strtres, american pateriotism onondisplay, but sometimes thaha pride comes with a very high price tag. and guess who's paying the bill. tonight abc's correspondent investigates. >> reporter: georgia army national card georgia constance mack loves to sing and serve her country. she won the military version of "american idol" called "operation rising star."

>> reporter: she often combines them singing the "national anthem" in uniform at sports events like this event at the atlanta hawks game. that's her on the jumbo-tron. >> singing in front of that many people, the rush, my heart beating, it's a high for sure. >> reporter: so imagine her surprise when we told her that another one of her performancece was what c ctics are calling an example off paid patriotism, that she knew nothing about. the atlanta falcons, as part of a larger sponsor agreement with the pentagon, agreed to host a military appreciation day on november 23rd, 2014. that included the unfurling of large flags on the field and a national guard member to sing the "national anthem." yep, constance mack. patriotic? yes. but profitable, too, to the tune of $114,500. >> knowing that these, you know,

joyful, tearful, very, you know, heartfelt moments could be paid for kind of makes you feel like a paid actoto i guess, yeye, in a a sense, it is cheapened. >> reporter: now through contracts obtained exclusively by abc news we learned just how often these pateriotic displays were not given for the teams but paid for on field opportunities starring men and women to carrrr thatat giant flag at that buffalo bills game, sing the "national anthem" at this boston bruins game or repel down a rope at santa rise to drop the puck at a minnesota wild game. >> these teams do a lot of god work. good work. the problem is when the activities like this is paid for by the taxpayer it cheapens everything else they do. >> reporter: senator and john mccain of california call it

paid terrorist tichl and paid patriotism and they have the teams contracts, the price tags for them. the new york jets charged $10,000 for a soldier to be an honorary captain. the milwaukee brewers charged $7500 to throw ceremonial first pitches. the mavericks charge $5,000 for their cheerleaders to throw national guard t-shirts provided by the national guard. >> to charge the taxpayers for it in the name of patriotism is disingenuous at best and, frankly, unacceptable at worse. >> reporter: the leagues and teams deny they charge for patriotic displays saying these events weree instead free add-ones to big marketing contracts. the milwaukee brewers, these were simply placeholder amounts. major league baseball commissioner. >> these emotional ceremonial first pitches that we see, great patriotic acts, some of them were in fact paid for by the pentagon. is that going to stop?

the price was didiounted on the deal t t avoid there being any appearance that those ceremonial acts were paid for. >> is what the contract says not correct, sir? what i'm looking at the contract, it says directly on the contract, arizona air national guard soldier throwing out ceremonial first pitch at the home game. >> i'm not saying there are not contracts that contain that langngge. i'm saying, for exexple, we in fact discounted the deal so we were not receiving payment for those items. >> i don't think that that explanation holds water. >> reporter: in fact, contracts obtained by abc news show that some teams charge nothing for acts of patriotism. major league baseball says it will review the practice and tell its teams to make it crystal clear they're not being paid for on field patriotism. >> has there been any consideration in you say small number of cases of giving the money back? >> lik i said, we're of in the process of going through

i think that our clubs for the minuscule amount of money involved here is -- it's just not material to their business. and i think that the amount of ings that we doo free for the military, hundreds and hundreds of fold makes up for whatever small payments are involved in these trades. >> reporter: the nfl declined an opportunity to be interviewed but did provide this letter to abc news exclusively. promising an independent audit to see if their contracts did include money for hero moments. and if they did, the money they say will berefunded. so constance mack and her fellow soldiers can be honored for their service out of pure patriotism and not for profit. for "nightline," in washington. and next, how a plane plus a parachute resulted in a crisis averted. > abc n ns "nightline" brougug to you by e trade. their beard salve is made from

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and finally tonight, how a pilot and hislane were saved from a crash land that could have been a whole lot worse by good old-fashioned, wait for it, parachute. here's abc's david gurley. >> it was a flight that could have ended in tragedy. three passengers walking away with only minor injuries after their troubled plane was forced to make an energy hademergency landing. not at a runway but by parachute in arkansas tuesday morning. onlookers took out their phones

to record video and call 911. >> plane has possibly gone down. >> reporter: the small aircraft had just taken off when it started to lose oil pressure and enginene power. thth pilot, f fmer u.s. walmart emergency chute which floated the plane to a road in tteville. the plane did hit a truck with a woman and two children inside, leaving the woman in shock. it's not the first time a plane's parachute has saved lives. >> so fast. >> so fast. >> just happened too quick. >> reportete a texas couplpl narrowly escaped this fiery crash last month. their plane's chute got tangled up in power lines preventing it from hitting the ground. >> parachute definitely saved our lives. when we stopped, both of us at the same time said let's get out of here. >> reporter: the plane in arkansas has now been moved and the faa isinvestigiging. for " "ghtline," i'm davav gurley. it's been said both optimist

the optimist is the airplane, the pessimist, the parachute. thanks for watching abc news. tune in to "good morning