In 2000, a then-19-year-old Kevin Hines jumped off San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Mr Hines later found out that was not the case. Back in 2000, Kevin Hines jumped off the golden gate bridge due mental illnesses. But how many of you thought, Really? Breaking through the waters surface seemed like a hallucination all its own. If that tourist had not approached Kevin and asked him to take those photos, perhaps the Sea lion wouldve been in a different spot and this story never would have been told. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. When Jo Ann Altsman suffered a heart attack, help came just in time in the form of a pot-bellied pig. "When you can find the ability to fight for your wellbeing, you can change your outcome," he says. After he surfaced, he felt a creature nudging his body which was a sea lion helping to keep Hines afloat until he was rescued by the Coast Guard. Back in 2000, Kevin Hines jumped off the golden gate bridge - reddit On September 25, 2000, 19-year-old Kevin Hines leaped from the Golden Gate Bridge, intending to end his life. "', Landmark: By a stroke of luck, a witness saw Mr Hines jump from the vast bridge and alerted the coastguard, Conference: Mr Hines spoke at the New South Wales Police Force Mental Health Intervention Team conference in Sydney, Australia. You have spread hope and love to so many. Then, take a look at these heartbreaking photos from the scene of Kurt Cobains suicide. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, 'He is NOT a threat': Mental health advocate DEFENDS 6'6" thug, 17, who had to be dragged off unconscious female teaching aide who he knocked out for confiscating his Nintendo Switch, 'Are you a family annihilator, Mr Murdaugh?' 'You don't have to die this way.'. He urges anyone who sees someone suffering and upset, like he was that day on the Golden Gate Bridge, or whom they suspect may be having suicidal thoughts, to reach out. Kevin attempted to take his life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. After reading about the incredible survival story of Kevin Hines, learn about Alfred Loewenstein, the multi-millionaire who fell out of his own airplane. Emotional: Mental health campaigner Kevin Hines told a conference yesterday how he survived a suicide attempt nearly 15 years ago - because a sea lion circled under him and kept him afloat until help arrived. I just read your story on the PETA website, very inspiring and what that sea lion, how cool was he/she? He still has violent flashbacks of the green waters rushing toward him. Since the bridge opened in 1937, an estimated 2,000 people have done the same. And by the way it was not a shark (like you mentioned in the TV show) it was a sea lion and I have pictures. [9] He turned himself around to land in the water legs first. U.S. only. He crashed feet first into the waters below, crushing spinal vertebrae and breaking an ankle. "She called her friend in the coast guard, which is the only reason they arrived to my position within less than the time I [would have] set in hypothermia and drowned.". The Golden Gate Bridge Suicide Attempt Survivor - All Inclusive With [8] ABC News reported Hines began hearing voices in his head telling him to die. When will we learn to listen? Many factors contributed to his miraculous survival including a sea lion which kept him afloat until the Coast Guard arrived. SAFER CARE FOR THOSE AT RISK OF SUICIDE. Finally, a good Samaritan stopped to check on her. shoes to wear with dress pants in winter; baltimore county inspection connection; iranian football players in europe; He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The Most Awesome Men's Entertainment Site On The Internet. Suddenly, it didnt matter how cold the water felt or how much trouble breathing he was having because Kevin sensed he was about to be eaten by a shark. Kevin Hines StoryKevin Hines Something alive. Hines also co-wrote and starred in the documentary Film, Suicide: The Ripple Effect, which was awarded Best Story at the Nice International Film Festival in Nice, France, in 2018. Kevin took the photos and returned the camera. [25] He has campaigned for the installation of a safety net around the Golden Gate Bridge to catch people who jump. This is how it all started.". Hines details his story in the new documentary that he produced, Suicide: The Ripple Effect, which opened across the United States in March 2018. All of our shop proceeds will be donated to Zero Suicide International. He grew into a sensitive and expressive boy who loved acting and playing sports. Lord of the sea creatures | WORLD The three lions chased off the men and sat quietly with the girl until the police arrived, then disappeared back into the brush. I called Morgan and I asked if he would email me the pictures he took. Hines hopes that each time he tells his story, the hope he conveys to the suffering will enable them to open up, to realize, 'I can help myself today,'" Hines says. And he spent more than a decade after he recovered lobbying the city of San Francisco to install a suicide net below the pedestrian walkway to prevent others from dying as he intended in the water below. He is currently producing a documentary entitled Suicide: The Ripple Effect. Kevin Hines is now a global speaker on mental health issues and shared his remarkable story at a suicide prevention conference in New South Wales, Australia. A woman with a German accent did come up to him and asked him to take her picture at the bridge, but she did not mention anything about his tears or ask about his well-being. Kevin Hines - Wikipedia Kevin showed him that he wasn't alone, Stephens says. He has spoken in congressional hearings alongside Patrick Kennedy in support of The Mental Health Parity Bill. Cal Fussman's 2-Minute Takeway. I wish I said to my father that morning, Am I a burden to you? Because he would have said, No. I wish I said to my dad, Im thinking about suicide, because he would have said, Im not letting you go,' Hines said. "I thought it was too late, I said to myself, 'What have I done, I don't want to die'," says Hines, now 38. Kevin Hines now has a metal plate in his spine. "I realized I made the greatest mistake of my life.". At 19, Kevin Hines struggled with mental illness and depression. It gently nudged him to the surface and held him there. I was nineteen years old and after leaving the Bridge, my firstthought was that I had made a terrible mistake. She somehow opened the fence gate, walked into the road, and lay down in the middle of traffic. He continued to be tormented, and the hallucinations persisted. With medication and professional help he has managed to reduce his symptoms, including the voices in his head which told him to jump on that day 14 and a half years ago. After she turned and walked away, he took three running steps. But he survived. I tried to punch it thinking it might bite me. Doctors surgically repaired Hines' physical injuries and after four weeks, he entered psychiatric care at St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco, the first of seven in-patient stays to deal with depression, paranoia, and hallucinations. He is not a licensed clinician, nor does he give medical or psychiatric services. He fell 220 feet roughly the height of a 25-story building in four seconds, praying on the way down, because as soon as he went over he realized hed made the biggest mistake of his life. Play it now! Mr Hines's story is one that he never expected to tell. A fall like that is akin to landing on concrete. He fell headfirst. I didnt die, he remembers thinking, and now Im going to be eaten by a shark. Whatever the creature was, it kept Hines buoyant by periodically nudging him to keep him afloat, according to Most importantly, when depression, psychosis, paranoia, hallucinations, hopelessness or suicidal thoughts returnand they doHines reaches out to people who comprise a close support network that he calls his "personal protectors.". A week later, with the police in pursuit, the kidnappers were attempting to move her to a new location when a pride of lions heard her plaintive cries and rushed in. Kevin Hines is a storyteller. However, I know that it was a sea lion and it is not a statistic anomaly. A man who survived a suicide attempt off San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and was kept afloat by a sea lion has relayed his story to a NSW Police suicide prevention conference. However, the elation of still being alive was quickly replaced with unbearable pain again, and he struggled mightily against drowning. Aged just 21, he was suffering from bipolar disorder and psychosis when he jumped from the San Francisco landmark on a chilly September day in 2000. Less than one percent of them survived but Kevin Hines is among them. "My goal is to try to instill hope in at least one individual," Hines says, "so that one individual says, 'Maybe I can stay here, maybe there are tools to fight this.'" In the Year 2000, Kevin threw himself off the Golden Gate Bridge in an attempt to end his life. Hines contemplated not jumping, reasoning that if any person showed that they cared about him, he would not commit suicide. Inside Kevin Hines Miraculous Survival After Jumping Off The Golden Gate Bridge. The first video in a seven-part series featuring Kevin Hines discussing The Art of Wellness. It has a YouTube channel that focuses on mental health. Miraculously, a sea lion kept him afloat until the Coast Guard arrived. Sea Lion Saves Golden Gate Bridge Jumper. He has reached millions with his story. [6] He has spoken at schools, colleges, and universities to share his story. 'The message is very very simple,' he told ABC. He has also authored a memoir, Cracked Not Broken, Surviving and Thriving After a Suicide Attempt. It looks like Kevin will realize his mission in the not-too-distant future. After leaping, Hines, as described by Time, had instant regret: "When my hands left that railand my legs curled overas soon as I left the bridge, I thought, I dont want to die.". His compelling story has touched diverse, global audiences within colleges and universities, high schools, corporations, clergy, military, clinicians, health and medical communities, law enforcement organizations, and various industries. He has visited mental hospitals several times since his jump. Less than one percent of them survived but Kevin Hines is among them. "Several of them were actively suicidal, because of that we were able to get them help and it became what it is today and that's just travelling all over the place and trying to help one person in an audience.". Eighteen years ago, on September 25th, a young man named Kevin Hines got on a bus in San Francisco that was headed toward the Golden Gate Bridge. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. When Hines was nine months old, he was adopted by Pat and Debbie Hines in the San Francisco area. Liberal: Using Friendship to Bridge the Political Divide, Psychalive - Psychology for Everyday Life, In a Relationship with a Narcissist? Now, Hines travels the world to speak about suicide prevention and mental health, telling his story to help others stay alive. As I was bobbing up and down in the water, I was saying 'I don't want to die, God, I made a mistake.'". Hines is a storyteller at heart. "I was freaking out," he says. "[11] According to the San Francisco Magazine, he now works as a mental-health advocate.[12]. 2 Gayguymike 1 min. He is a best selling author, global public speaker, and award winning documentary filmmaker. All Rights Reserved But his body would mend before his psyche. A young boy in Ontario, Canada, was camping with his parents and decided to stay on land while they boated. Nobody approached Kevin. He obliged. Kevin became one of only a handful of people to have survived the fall from The Golden Gate Bridge who can still walk and run. On his walk up the pathway, he wept. Stay up to date on the latest vegan trends and get breaking animal rights news delivered straight to your inbox! The moment his fingers left the railing, he felt instant regret. Hines never wants anyone to experience what he did almost 18 years ago when he took a bus to the bridge with voices in his head telling him "You must die, jump now," he recalls. 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He miraculously survived because a sea lion was bumping him up and kept his head above water. The force attended almost 50,000 mental health incidents in 2014 alone, and set up to conference to discuss how the often-misunderstood issue should be tackled. Speaking with KABC-TV, he said he felt instant regret, powerful, overwhelming. The change in my husband since hearing Kevin speak is nothing short of a miracle. Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. "When that happened, I said to my father, 'Dad we have to do this, anyway, anywhere we can.' Upon my resurfacing, I bobbed up and down in the frigid waters surrounding me. He is a best selling author, global public speaker, and award winning documentary filmmaker. So there he was, 19 years old, sitting on that bus, crying, and hoping that one person would notice his tears, approach him and ask: If one person approached him, he decided, he wouldnt go through with it. Then, something brushed by my legs, I feared it was a shark come to devour me whole. Four seconds is all it took before Hines hit the water. Hines was also upset by the suicide of his drama teacher. But all animals have the capacity for thought, intuitiveness, empathy, and decision-making, as these animals proved when they stepped in and saved human lives.