this is "nightline." >> tonight, breaking her silence. robin williams' widow speaking out for the first time about his secret past and mysterious disease that would have devastating affects on them both. the love of her life spiraled down before his 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. tonight 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 middle of a busy road. but first, the "nightline 5."

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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 night, my love. 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 set 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

he was depressed. >> no. lewy body dementia killed robin. end of story. >> it's a body disorder that attacks the brain. >> the only way to diagnose it absolutely is in autopsy. the lewy body dementia, it's so rapid, so fast, 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 would have been hard years, and it's 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 hip old granfy who can hip-hop, bebop, dance to you drop. >> reporter: but also for his quiet gravitas like in "good will hunting." >> you don't know about real loss because that only occurs when you love something more than yourself. >> reporter: but to his wife susan, he was

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 susan 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 would hear that from people a lot. how do you manage? is he always like that? that's his job. >> reporter: on august 11 last year life took a drastic turn. susan left for work that morning thinking her husband was still asleep. >> rebecca, his assistant was over. i said call me when he's up. she sent me a text and said he's not up yet. what should i do?

i said, in that moment i knew there was something horribly wrong. and then she called -- she called me back. >> what did she say? >> i can't -- i can't even -- i'm sorry. that 20-minute car ride. i just screamed the whole way, robin. >> did you get to see him? >> yes. i got to pray with him and i got to tell 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 take his own life. >> was he paranoid? >> paranoid 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 because 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 you will violate your standards as quickly as you can lower them. >> 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 idea of just one. >> reporter: susan says by the time robin passed he had been sober for eight years. but what no one knew was that while robin was still alive he was suffering from that debilitating brain disorder lewy body dementia. >> lewy body dementia is a complex disorder with many different presentations. i think 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 millions of americans, protein deposits, or 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? >> in november of 2013 he had a little gut pain. we never found out what it was. then it went to, next month, it was another symptom. it just kept going through these different symptoms, constipation, urinary problems. sleeplessness was prevalent, huge throughout. they got worse and worse. i could see something was very wrong. 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 bed and he said to me, he said, there's something really wrong 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 time i started to wonder, are we? >> reporter: susan says that robin's symptoms continued to get worse and while filming "night 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 disease. >> did he ever do anything during this time where you were afraid for his physical safety? >> yes. yeah. july 24th. i was in the shower. i saw him lingering at the sink for a while. something didn't seem right. i opened up the door and there

was blood. this towel was so soaked with blood. he was just dabbing his head. and 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 affectation on his face about it, that i felt like, my best friend was sinking, you know. my husband was disintegrating before my eyes. >> reporter: in that last week the doctors were going to check him into a facility for neurocognitive testing. they told you three years left? >> it could have been anywhere from one to three. >> was this robin's way of taking control back? >> in my opinion, oh, yeah. i think he was just 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 comforting 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 around write poetry because we're 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 favorite movie of robin williams was robin williams being a human being, not an

actor. best movie in the world. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm amy robach in new york. next, oh, say, can you see, the price of these acts of 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 wondered if this was the 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. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve

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it's before almost every it's the moment before almost every professional sporting event, like puts a lump in your throat or a they're in your eye. men and women of uniform waving the stars and stripes, american patriotism on display, but sometimes that pride comes with a very high price tag. and guess who's paying the bill. tonight abc's correspondent investigates. >> reporter: georgia army national guard georgia constance mack loves to sing and serve her country. she won the military version of "american idol" called "operation rising star." >> specialist constance mack.

>> reporter: she often combines both lives, singing the "national anthem" in uniform at sporting 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 performances was what critics are calling an example of 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 actor. so i guess, yeah, in a sense, it is cheapened. >> reporter: now through contracts obtained exclusively by abc news we learned just how often these patriotic displays were not donated by the teams but, instead, the pentagon actually paid teams for onfield opportunities starring military men and women to carry that giant flag at this 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 good work. the problem is when the activities like this is paid for by the taxpayer it cheapens everything else they do. >> reporter: senators jeff flake and john mccain of arizona call it paid patriotism and they have compiled a list of heartwarming onfield acts and from the team's

own 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 three 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 were 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? >> let me be clear about one thing.

the price was discounted on the deal to 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. part of the contract. >> i'm not saying there are not contracts that contain that language. i'm saying, for example, 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? >> like i said, we're in the process of going through contract by contract. 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 things that we do free for the military, hundreds and hundreds of fold makes up for whatever small payments are involved in these contracts. >> 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 be refunded. 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 news "nightline" brought to you by e trade. to you by e trade. ♪ their beard salve is made from ♪ ♪ sustainable tea tree oil and kale...

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you have the power to change your child's life. the boys town national hline can help. (tdd# 1-800-448-1433) and finally tonight, how a pilot and his plane 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 hemergency 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 engine power. the pilot, former u.s. walmart ceo bill simon, deployed the emergency chute which floated the plane to a road in fayetteville. 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. >> reporter: a texas couple 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 is investigating. for "nightline," i'm david gurley. it's been said both optimist and pessimist contribute to society. the optimist is the airplane,

the pessimist, the parachute. thanks for watching abc news. tune in to "good morning america." good night, america. with a 100% electric nissan what will you do? how far will you go? how much will you see? electrify the world. now with a class-leading 107 miles on a charge, the nissan leaf is the best selling electric car in america.

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