A woman has shared the story of how Robin Williams comforted her at an airport following her husband's suicide.
In a post made on The Mighty, writer Kate Lyon Osher spoke about how, after her husband Greg took his own life following a lengthy struggle with his mental health, she decided to take a sabbatical and travel around the world to scatter his ashes.
However, at LAX airport, she was detained by security who almost forced her to dump her husband's ashes away, which made Osher feel hysterical.
But when she went and had a drink to calm her nerves at the airport bar, she was approached by the Aladdin star, who spoke to her about her unfortunate situation.
In the article in question, Osher wrote: "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.'
"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."
She added that Williams told her: "'Addiction is a real b****. Mental illness and depression are the mother of all b******.
"'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?'"
It turned out that Williams was actually taking the same flight as Osher, and after giving her his sage words of wisdom, he made her laugh by joking irreverently about the security guard who caused her such trouble.
Williams, who was open about his own mental health struggles with depression and suicide ideation, took his own life in 2014 after being misdiagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
After his death, it was determined that the comedian had actually had been contending with Lewy body dementia; a disease that can affect an individual's thinking, movement, behavior, and mood.
On August 11, Robin Williams' son, Zak, paid tribute to his late father on the seventh anniversary of the actor's death.
The 38-year-old took to Twitter to share a photo of his father, along with the words: "Dad, seven years ago today you passed on.
"The joy and inspiration you brought to the world carries on in your legacy and in your family, friends, and fans you so loved. You lived to bring laughter and to help others. I will be celebrating your memory today. Love you forever."
If you are struggling with mental health, please contact a loved one, doctor, or one of the helplines below:National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org
800-273-TALK (8255)
TTY: 800-799-4TTY (4889)
Asian American Suicide Prevention and Education
http://www.aaspe.net
877-990-8585 (Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, and Fujianese)
Boys Town Suicide and Crisis Line (for teens/parents/families)
http://www.boystown.org/national-hotline
800-448-3000
Text, Chat Email: http://www.yourlifeyourvoice.org/Pages/ways-to-get-help.aspx
Lifeline Crisis Chat
http://www.crisischat.org
1:1 Online Chat: http://www.crisischat.org/chat (12:00 pm - 12:00 am EST)
Crisis Text Line
https://www.crisistextline.org/how-it-works
Text 741741
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crisistextline
Kristin Brooks Hope Center
https://www.imalive.org/
1.800.SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433)
Facebook
Twitter
IMAlive Crisis Chat
https://www.imalive.org
Vet2Vet Veterans Crisis Hotline
http://www.yourlifecounts.org/crisis-line/vet2vet-veteran%E2%80%99s-crisis-line
1-877-VET-2-VET (838-2838)
