PORT ANGELES — Golden Gate Bridge suicide survivor Kevin Hines is bringing his story of strength and hope to Clallam County, where death by suicide could increase by 30 percent in 2018 compared to 2017 if the rate continues as it stands now.
Hines, 36, will appear at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Civic Field in Port Angeles at a free public event, where he will answer questions, which is presented by Peninsula Behavioral Health and sponsored by Kitsap Bank and at a sold-out fundraising dinner for Peninsula Behavioral Health (PBH) Friday night at 7 Cedars Casino in Blyn.
PBH Development Coordinator Rebekah Miller said Hines had been booked for the fundraiser before the increase in suicides from the Eighth Street bridges. The free Civic Field event was scheduled after the increase in bridge suicides.
“Once all of that happened, I needed to make him available for the entire community and not just our fundraiser,” Miller said.
“We want to let the community know that we care about its well-being and this is a way that we can hopefully help.
“We want people to be able to come to us,” Miller said. “If they do have problems, this is what we are here for.”
Hines discovered at age 17 that he had bipolar disorder, according to his website at www.kevinhinesstory.com.
He was 19 in September 2000 when he jumped over the Golden Gate bridge’s 4-foot railing.
He plunged 220 feet, landing in a seated position and breaking three vertebrae and an ankle.
Hines is the author of “Cracked Not Broken: Surviving and Thriving After a Suicide Attempt,” has produced a documentary, “Suicide: The Ripple Effect,” and was featured in the 2006 film, “The Bridge.”
He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Hines’ wife, Margaret, said in a brief interview that Hines has a metal plate in his back and suffers from constant pain.
He tells his story far and wide.
“This is his life’s passion,” she said.
The couple live in San Francisco and Atlanta.
Hines estimated in an interview last year that his fall from the iconic bridge in the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean lasted four seconds.
“The millisecond my legs cleared it, the millisecond of true free fall, instant regret for my action,” He told ABC News in May 2017.
“As I fell, all I wanted to do was reach back to the rail, but it was gone.
“The thoughts in those four seconds, it was ‘What have I just done? I don’t want to die. God please save me.’ Boom.”
He was interviewed March 15 by the Kearney Hub daily newspaper in Nebraska before a presentation at the city’s performing arts center.
“Are you OK? Is something wrong? Can I help you? Those were the words I desperately wanted to hear right before I catapulted myself over the rail,” he said in the interview.
Four people have died by suicide from jumping off the 100-foot Eighth Street bridges over the Tumwater Truck Route and South Valley Street since June, and eight since the bridges were replaced and reopened in February 2009 with 4-foot, 6-inch railings.
The City Council has awarded a $770,000 contract to have 8-foot, 9-inch suicide-barrier fences installed on the bridges by September.
Twenty-three people died by suicide in Clallam County in 2017, the highest number since at least 2007, Prosecuting Attorney-Coroner Mark Nichols said Wednesday.
Nichols said nine people died by suicide in Clallam County through May 1. A 10th person who hanged herself in Clallam County on Jan. 3 was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she was pronounced dead by asphyxiation due to ligature hanging by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The total number could reach 30 in 2018 if the rate holds steady through Jan. 1, 2019, a potential 30 percent increase over 2017.
Suicides nationwide increased 1.2 percent in 2016 compared to 2015, according to totals released in January by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“I’m thrilled that [Hines is] coming to Clallam County to heighten awareness on suicides and the whole concept of suicide being a permanent solution to an otherwise temporary problem,” Nichols said.
“After all, he lived to tell about the experience.”
Wendy Sisk, Peninsula Behavioral Health chief executive officer, said Wednesday that PBH decided to hold the Civic Field event after young people in the community grew familiar with Hines’ message on YouTube.
“He brings a story of hope from somebody who has come out of that place of despair, who has come out on the other side, and can talk about that personal experience of how he got to that place and how grateful he is to be on the other side,” said Sisk, who saw him speak at a behavioral health conference.
“There is something about the way that he really connects to people who are suffering and silent,” she said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
