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 healt ...

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 in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California, in 2000 at the age of 19. 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 Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

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ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, ''

Larry King Now ''Larry King Now'' is an American television 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, world leaders, celebrities, and Internet stars. T ...

'', and ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American 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 the first of its genre on American television ...

''. 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 ...

based in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 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, sold under the brand name Tegretol among others, is an anticonvulsant medication used in the treatment of epilepsy and neuropathic pain. It is used as an adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia along with other medications and as ...

to help control his

epileptic seizures A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

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

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

. 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. Hines says that after he surfaced, 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. ...

helped to keep him afloat until he was rescued by the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, 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 cust ...

. Hines tells his story to at-risk groups around the nation and urges people to get treatment for mental illness to help them realize that suicide is not the answer. As of 2018, he was working 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 mass media, 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 Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, 9 news Australia, ''

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'', ''

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

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Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

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Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

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Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

, 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 Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel that focuses on mental health. He campaigned for the installation of a safety net around the Golden Gate Bridge to catch people who jump. When Hines saw the first parts of the net, he wept and said, "This is one of the most special days of my life". The net was completed in 2023 and according to the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District has already contributed to reducing suicides.

Awards and nominations

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is a voluntary health organization that advocates for research and education around suicide, based in New York City, with a public policy office based in Washington, D.C. The organization's s ...

Lifesaver of the Year Award *

Mental Health America 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 on March 30, 1876. He was one of five children, all of whom would suffer from psychologic ...

: 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 on March 30, 1876. He was one of five children, all of whom would suffer from psychologic ...

Award * Young Minds Advocacy: Mental Health Champion * NoStigmas: Hero Award * National Council Community Behavioral Healthcare: Lifetime Achievement Award *

San Francisco Police Department The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the Municipal police, municipal law enforcement agency of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco, as well as San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, San Ma ...

: Commendation Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hines, Kevin 1981 births Living people People related to suicide prevention Mental health activists American adoptees People with epilepsy People with bipolar disorder American public speakers People from San Francisco