Robin Williams comforted stranger at the airport
A woman has revealed how the late Robin Williams supported her during one of the 'most difficult' moments of her life after her first husband's suicide, when he spotted her in tears at the airport.
Lawyer and writer Kate Osher from LA was left hysterical when an airport official said she'd have to throw away her first husband Greg's ashes as she couldn't take them through security, but the late star came to her aid when he spotted her in tears.
In a blog post written last year for The Mighty, which was recently resurfaced online, she recalled: 'A soft voice stated, 'Miss, I just want to be sure you are OK. I see you are traveling alone, and I saw what happened, and I just really want to be sure you are OK.'
She continued: 'Through my tears I could place the voice but couldn't actually believe Robin Williams was just casually strolling through LAX and would actually take the time to stop to see if I was OK.'
After Kate shared why she was upset, the actor told her: 'Addiction is a real b****. Mental illness and depression are the mother of all b*****s. I am so sorry for all the pain your husband was in. I'm so sorry for the pain you are in now. But it sounds like you have family and friends and love. And that tips the scale a bit, right?'
The late actor Robin Williams comforted lawyer and writer Kate Osher when he saw her in tears at LAX as she grieved for her first husband who committed suicide
Kate was carrying her late husband's ashes on a 'travel quest', scattering them in the places he'd requested, but an airport official tried to insist that she couldn't take them through security.
The matter was then resolved by a police officer who checked the death cert and allowed her through, but Kate was hysterical and went to sit in the bar facing the wall so nobody could see her tears.
After Robin approached Kate to comfort her, he walked her to the gate where they were taking the same flight.
And on the walk he even managed to cheer her up by making her laugh by poking playful fun at the TSA agent who had been rude to her and told her she had a beautiful laugh and smile.
Kate said the late actor had saved her on what was one of the most difficult days of her life
Since his death, Robin Williams' wife has revealed he was battling a form of dementia and Parkinson's disease
'And when we parted ways, he hugged me,' she recalled. 'With his famously hairy arms, he gave me a huge, warm, bear hug, and it sustained me.
'It was a moment I think about all the time. That moment saved me. And sustained me. He sustained me during one of the most difficult moments of my life.'
Robin Williams passed away on August 11 2014, aged 63.
The star of Good Will Hunting, Good Morning Vietnam and Mrs Doubtfire, who battled depression and an addiction to cocaine and alcohol for decades, was found 'unconscious and not breathing' at his home in Tiburon, California.
The 'paranoid' last days of Robin Williams The Mrs Doubtfire and Good Will Hunting star's suicide came after decades of battling depression and alcohol and drug addiction. He was also facing significant financial pressures and admitted he was selling a $35million estate in Napa because he could no longer afford it. A month before her died the married father-of-three was back in rehab 'fine-tuning' his sobriety in a year where he had been working on six movies and a TV series. His publicist also revealed the star had been 'battling severe depression, as well as suffering from Parkinson's disease. In April 2015 a British TV documentary been reported that he'd spent his last days in a paranoid frenzy, aware that 'something else was wrong with him'. The 63-year-old, who had also been prone to episodes of insomnia and anxiety prior to his death, also spent his final 24 hours frantically looking up drugs online, convinced he had another illness. The post-mortem examination later revealed that Williams had been suffering from Lewy body dementia - an undiagnosed illness would could have been the root cause of his bizarre behaviour. According to the post-mortem report, Williams spent his last night at his Californian home with wife Susan Schneider. Ms Schneider later described how her husband stuffed a number of his jewelled watches into a sock before driving to the house of a friend a few days before be died. After Williams's body was found, a bottle of quetiapine, a powerful drug used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, was also found unopened in his bedroom. He had been prescribed it a week before his suicide, suggesting his symptoms may have changed prior to his death. Toxicology reports showed Williams' moods were being controlled by mirtazapine, which is used to treat depressive disorders.
His publicist had revealed he had been battling 'severe depression' at the time. Robin's wife Susan Schneider later revealed the star had been suffering with a brain disease called Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB).
In an interview with People magazine, Susan explained that her husband Williams had been suffering with the disease a year before his death, with his symptoms worsening in the months prior to his passing.
He had also become increasingly ill with Parkinson's disease and his wife said that he only had about three years left to live at the time of his death.