GRAND FORKS — More than a thousand students in Grand Forks now know the miraculous story of a San Francisco man, one of the few to survive a jump off the Golden Gate Bridge.
Kevin Hines has turned his life into a mission to educate others about suicide prevention.
“One more day is important,” Hines said Wednesday, Oct. 9.
Now a motivational speaker, Hines, helped a group of high schoolers combat negative self-talk with some very loud, positive self-talk.
Over two days and four events, he estimates he’s shared his story with more than 1,500 people in the Grand Forks area.
“Think the biggest takeaway I want people to have is that that pain is universal, and just because you may be in a world of lethal emotional pain now, considering suicide, it does not mean you don’t get to have that beautiful, gorgeous tomorrow,” Hines said.
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Hines knows that first hand, he survived a suicide attempt, one of the few who live after jumping off the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
That was almost 25 years ago.
“There’s a difference between suicidal ideation and suicidal action. Sometimes ideators, people who think about it, are never going to attempt, but the fact that they’re thinking about it means they could. So, if we can get to them when they’re ideating, we can get them help and resources,” Hines said.
Resources such as “TEARS,” the nonprofit organization that was instrumental in bringing Hines to Grand Forks.
Their mission of suicide prevention began when their co-founder and president lost her son to suicide.
“I realized that we had a lack of resources in our community, and felt alone in that process. So we wanted to make sure that our community knew that there was resources and support for them if they had had the similar experience,” Sandy Kovar, the president and co-founder of TEARS, said.
Volunteers with TEARS and Hines say they want to create hope, build strength and end suicide by teaching the community healthy coping skills and making healthy connections with others.
“A pain shared is a pain halved. And what that means is share with somebody. Tell somebody that’s the No. 1 thing that you can do,” Ashlee Kleveland, the director of visibility at TEARS, said.
One of the many positive takeaways for students at the event.
The TEARS team says they’ve known Hines’ story for years and were excited to have him share his knowledge with the community.
Hines had the chance to talk to some of the students after his presentation.
“I want to be there more for my peers and to hear what they have to say and to be there for them anytime of distress for them,” Will Zavoral, a student at Sacred Heart High School in East Grand Forks, said.
Hines says he hopes taking away the stigma of mental health issues gets more people talking about suicide and, hopefully, preventing it.
To get connected to suicide prevention resources in the Grand Forks area,
visit the TEARS website
.