An incredible true story of Kevin Hines, who attempted suicide when he jumped from The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Share this powerful motivational speech with those who need it most.
Speaker: Kevin Hines
Speaker: Kevin Hines
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00 I got on the next bus. I sat in the very last seat in the middle row.
00:06 We began to drive out to the Golden Gate Bridge.
00:11 And that's when it hit me.
00:17 I realized I didn't want to die at all.
00:20 I realized that I thought, I said, "What are you doing, Kevin? Get off the bus."
00:28 I just wanted the pain to stop.
00:30 That's the common denominator of people who lose to suicide.
00:33 They just want the pain to stop.
00:35 I was walking up to the bus driver hoping that he would see my pain.
00:39 But I could not say it overtly. I could not tell him to look at me and say, "Hey, kid, are you okay?
00:47 Hey, kid, is something wrong? Can I help you?"
00:50 The bus got to the bridge. I sat there crying.
00:54 The bus driver turned, he stood, he looked at me and he said, "Kid, come on. Get off the bus. I gotta go."
01:00 There was a guy to my left. He said to the fellow next to him while pointing me with his thumb,
01:04 "What the hell's wrong with that kid?" with a smile on his face.
01:07 I thought, "That's it. Nobody cares. Nobody cares."
01:15 Come on. Everybody cared.
01:22 I just couldn't see it.
01:24 I walked back toward the traffic. I ran as fast as I could.
01:28 I threw myself over the rail.
01:31 The millisecond that my hands left that rail, instant regret for my actions
01:38 and the absolute recognition
01:41 that I just made the greatest mistake of my life.
01:47 I hit the water. A vacuum opened up and sucked me beneath the water about 70 to 80 feet.
01:53 My legs were completely immobile. I had shattered my lower vertebrae into shards like glass.
01:58 But then I opened my eyes.
02:01 The deep, dark depression that brought me to that day had disappeared.
02:06 The only thing I wanted to do, needed to do, had to do was survive.
02:14 I realized I was going down. I shot for what I thought was the surface.
02:18 As fast as my arms would take me and I saw the lit water above me,
02:23 I could see my destination and I thought, "You're not going to make it."
02:27 I don't understand. I don't want to drown. I made a mistake.
02:31 I broke the surface. Barely made it.
02:35 We're back now with Kevin Hines, who at the age of 19 attempted to take his own life.
02:41 Kevin, what happened with the sea lion?
02:44 When I resurfaced, I swam 70 feet with one breath and without the use of my legs.
02:52 It was the fastest I ever swam because I knew I wanted to live.
02:55 I break the surface. I bob up and down in the water. I can't stay afloat.
02:58 I keep going down. My boots are waterlogged. I cannot stay afloat. I'm going to drown.
03:01 And that's when something began circling beneath me faster and faster and faster and faster.
03:05 And of course, I think it's a shark. So I'm freaking out.
03:09 I try to punch his thing. It won't go away.
03:11 In the water, as I flailed to stay afloat and couldn't stay above water,
03:15 a sea lion came to my aid.
03:17 There was no shark, but there was a sea lion.
03:20 And the people above, looking down, believed to be keeping your body afloat
03:23 until the Coast Guard boat arrived behind you.
03:25 Oh my God.
03:26 I got to live here because a creature saw me in danger and acted immediately.
03:30 And to me, that's like my guardian angel who saved me that day,
03:34 along with the Coast Guard who pulled me out of the water.
03:38 The Coast Guard arrived.
03:40 They fished me out of the water, and they started asking me a bunch of questions.
03:43 Guy looks at me. He leans in, and he says,
03:46 "Kid, do you know how many people we pull out of this water that are already gone?"
03:52 And I said, "No, and I don't want to know."
03:56 And he said, "Well, I'm going to tell you.
03:58 This unit has pulled 57 dead bodies out of this water,
04:02 and one live one."
04:05 [♪♪]
04:07 Our next guest today also attempted to end his own life,
04:14 but Kevin Hines survived and now uses his life to spread the message
04:18 there is hope and there is help.
04:21 I want to help people understand
04:25 that their thoughts don't have to lead them to an attempt.
04:29 Their thoughts don't have to become their actions when they're suicidal.
04:34 You're going to help change people's lives, okay?
04:36 That's your life goal. Change people's lives for the better, okay?
04:39 That's it.
04:40 If we do not talk openly about what suicide is,
04:47 who it affects, and how it affects them,
04:50 if we do not use the word safely,
04:54 with education and awareness,
04:56 we run the risk of missing all those people who have it on their minds.
05:03 But I say to you now, the next time you see someone in obvious emotional distress,
05:09 I beg of you to walk up to that person
05:12 and say something to the effect of, "Are you okay?"
05:15 You could quite literally save a life in that moment.
05:18 Everywhere I go in the world, and I travel everywhere I can,
05:21 to talk about this story,
05:23 when you tell someone's story, they tell you theirs.
05:25 And then they tell you their truth for the first time
05:27 they've never told anybody in their lives.
05:29 My purpose is to ignite people to share the truth
05:32 because a pain shared is a pain halved.
05:34 Anybody out there watching this right now,
05:36 considering it, what do you want them to know?
05:39 Stop. Breathe.
05:43 In four seconds, out eight. Do it 30 times.
05:46 Stop. Breathe.
05:48 You got plenty of time to die.
05:50 It doesn't have to be by your hands.
05:52 That destroys everyone left behind, but don't feel guilty about it.
05:55 You want to live because you deserve this life.
05:58 One thing you should never do is silence your pain.
06:02 I silenced my pain for years.
06:04 I buried it deep down inside me like so many people do,
06:10 and I lost myself.
06:12 And it came out in a burst of rage against myself
06:17 that led me to attempt to take my life.
06:19 I thought I had to die,
06:22 and I was wrong.
06:24 Learn from me.
06:28 [Music]
06:31 [Music]
06:35 [Music]
06:38 [Music]
06:47 [Music]
06:58 [Music]
07:01 [Music]
07:08 [Music]
07:11 (gentle music)