Golden Gate Bridge suicide survivor is sharing his story to bring awareness to suicide prevention and mental health.
In September 2000 Kevin Hines was battling mental health issues when he jumped off the Golden Gate bridge. He felt instant regret while falling 240 feet at 75 miles per hour.
“I thought it was too late, I said to myself, ‘What have I done, I don’t want to die,’” Hines said. “I realized I made the greatest mistake of my life.”
Hines fell feet first into water breaking his ankle and crushing his spinal vertebrae, but he survived. One miracle that kept him alive was a sea lion which kept him afloat until the Coast Guard arrived.
He now works hard managing the voices in his head and depression.
Hines now travels the world sharing his story. He created the documentary, Suicide: The Ripple Effect and wrote a memoir, Cracked Not Broken, Surviving and Thriving After a Suicide Attempt.
“My goal is to try to instill hope in at least one individual,” Hines said in a Garner-Webb University news release. “So that one individual says, ‘Maybe I can stay here, maybe there are tools to fight this.’” He connects with individuals in a one-on-one environment usually at his speeches or through social media.
Since built in 1937, more than 1,7000 people have attempted suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge, according to Robert Olson of The Centre for Suicide Prevention in Calgary, Canada. Only 25 people are known to have survived the fall.
According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, in 2019, 47,511 Americans have died by suicide and 1.38million have attempted suicide.
Hines insists anyone struggling with the idea of suicide, before you act on it, call the National suicide prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255.