John Kevin Hines (born August 30, 1981) is an American

suicide prevention Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preventable, and the efforts to prevent it may occur at the individual, relationship, community, and society level. Suicide is a serious public health ...

speaker who attempted suicide by jumping from the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. His story gained major media coverage and he has since become a motivational speaker and advocate for suicide prevention. Hines has been featured on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

, ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'',

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, ''

Larry King Now ''Larry King Now'' was a talk show hosted by Larry King, available on Ora TV, Hulu and RT America. Launched on July 17, 2012, the series featured interviews with newsmakers, celebrities, world leaders, and Internet stars. The show was similar to ...

'', and ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

''. He has spoken at schools, colleges, and universities to share his story. He co-founded the Kevin and Margaret Hines Foundation (KMHF), a

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...

based in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, that provides funding and education for suicide prevention in the United States and elsewhere.

Early life

When Hines was nine months old, he was adopted by Pat and Debbie Hines in the San Francisco area. At the age of ten, he was put on

Tegretol Carbamazepine (CBZ), sold under the trade name Tegretol among others, is an anticonvulsant medication used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy and neuropathic pain. It is used as an adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia along with other medi ...

to help control his

epileptic seizures An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...

. After being taken off the drug at the age of 16, he began experiencing symptoms of

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. Hines was also upset by the suicide of his drama teacher. In September 2000, he wrote a suicide note.

Suicide attempt

On Monday, September 25, 2000, Hines traveled by bus to the

reported Hines began hearing voices in his head telling him to die. Hines threw himself over the rail. After leaping, Hines instantly felt regret. He turned himself around to land in the water legs first. After he surfaced, he felt a creature nudging his body which was a

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

helping to keep Hines afloat until he was rescued by the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

Aftermath

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' reported: "Now Hines, when he had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, tells his story to at-risk groups around the nation, urging people to get treatment for mental illness and helping them realize that suicide is not the answer." According to the ''

San Francisco Magazine ''San Francisco'' is an American monthly magazine devoted to the people, culture, food, politics, and arts of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published monthly by Modern Luxury publications. History There have been two separate ''San Francis ...

'', he now works as a mental-health advocate.

Public and media appearances

Hines has been featured by

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BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, 9 news Australia, ''The New York Post'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', ''

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'',

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

, and other media outlets. 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 Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, in 2018.

Activism

Hines's mission, through his Kevin and Margaret Hines Foundation, is to provide mental health education and suicide prevention information through worldwide public speaking engagements, research initiatives. It has a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel that focuses on mental health. He has campaigned for the installation of a safety net around the Golden Gate Bridge to catch people who jump. The net has started construction and the project is scheduled to be completed in 2023. When Hines saw the first parts of the net, he wept and said, "This is one of the most special days of my life".

Awards and nominations

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is a voluntary health organization based in New York City, with a public policy office based in Washington, D.C. The organization's stated mission is to "save lives and bring hope to those a ...

Lifesaver of the Year Award * Mental Health America: The

Clifford Whittingham Beers Clifford Whittingham Beers (March 30, 1876 – July 9, 1943) was the founder of the American mental hygiene movement. Biography Beers was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Ida and Robert Beers on March 30, 1876. He was one of five children, all ...

Award * Young Minds Advocacy: Mental Health Champion * NoStigmas: Hero Award * National Council Community Behavioral Healthcare: Lifetime Achievement Award * San Francisco Police Department: Commendation Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hines, Kevin Living people Suicide prevention Mental health activists 1981 births American adoptees People with epilepsy People with bipolar disorder