By: Myron Lee Dyson
Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you decided not to speak out and not ask for help when you are in a time of suffering? There are many challenges people face in life, and some can lead them to make life-changing decisions for themselves, their loved ones, their friends, and the community that they live in. Kevin Hines is a person who made one unwise decision because he chose not to speak out and get help about mental health issues that he was going through during a rough time in his life when he was a young adult. He decided to take his life.
God had other plans for Kevin when his attempt to end his own life was unsuccessful. A woman driving over the bridge at the very moment he jumped saw him and called the Coast Guard. Before the coast guard found Kevin, he didn’t drown because a sea lion was pushing him to stay on the surface of the water. After some time, the coast guard rescued him. The lady who was driving over the bridge had a friend in the Coast Guard, which is why they arrived so quickly. All these people, and a sea lion, made real the second chance at life that Kevin Hines was searching for, and praying for, asking God the same moment he jumped and realized the mistake he had made.
Kevin Hines today is an award-winning author, speaker, and mental health advocate who travels around the world to help prevent people from committing suicide or harming themselves in any form. He raises awareness about mental struggles and various reasons causing them and has created solutions and resources to help people that face mental health issues and challenges. Almost every person faces them at some point in life. His story speaks wonders and can move a mountain because of the trajectory that every human deserves a chance to live and be here tomorrow. I say that because what is needed is a little bit of faith, the size of a mustard seed.
The mountain that I am referring to is life. Life is an uphill battle for everyone from the day they are born. Two years after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Kevin Hines tried to take his own life by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransico, California. His life-changing, compelling, and strong will to live, and his message of living well mentally, have impacted audiences and people all over the world. He was nineteen when his suicide attempt happened, and now, at forty-three, he is on a mission to help people all over the world and advocate for them.
He came to each campus of Cuyahoga Community College to tell his story. The reported event #BeHereTomorrow took place at Cuyahoga Community Metropolitan Campus in MCC 201 on April 10, 2026, 11am-noon. He was also at Westshore Campus from 3:30pm-4:30pm April 10, 2026, at Eastern campus on April 9th 11am-noon and Western Campus April 9th 7pm-8pm. At every meeting he told how he jumped from the bridge, hit the water, passed out, only to wake up to a sea lion holding him up to float until the Coast Guard rescued him. He shared that after he jumped off the bridge, reality set in quickly, and he started was praying that he would survive. Kevin started his road to recovery with many surgeries, rehab, speech therapy, physical therapy, and he had to learn how to walk again because he fractured three vertebrae in his spinal cord. He had spoken of other injuries that he suffered after this incident as well. Kevin made it a mission to show people that there is a better route if you just hold on, stay encouraged, and keep living. He had also spoken of hoping that one woman, right before he jumped off the bridge, would say just one positive thing to him, pay attention to his face in tears, to stop him, or ask him how he was doing. All she wanted was for him to take a picture of her with her camera. After that, he looked at the railing and saw the word “jump” on it and being in the mental state that he was in, he jumped because he saw that someone had carved jump into the railing. He felt that nobody cared and then realized that was not true at all.
I had a chance to speak with him personally for five minutes about what happened in my life in 2023. In 2023, on May 11th, my best friend Nigel Redmond of Allentown, Pennsylvania, killed himself right after he got off the phone with me. Nigel called me his last hope during this last phone call, and I could not help him because I did not know what to say to change his mind from suicide. Then he shot himself in the head because he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disease, and the mental episode that he was experiencing at the time caused his fate. I was trying to encourage him not to, but I was unsuccessful in preventing it because I could not reach Nigel in time; I was in Cleveland, Ohio, and he was in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This was a seven-hour drive away from where Nigel was.
Six months later, on September 14th, 2023, my mother passed away from a brain tumor. I told Kevin that I was trying to help my mother because I had found medicine that could help her. The only problem was that it was in another country, and I did not have the help, resources, and money to get it to her in time. When I had finally made enough money for the medicine that would help her, it was too late; she had passed away that very day. I shared all of this with Kevin, and I also told him that I wanted to end my own life when my mother passed away, but I had the willpower to keep living. The reason for it is that I have an eleven-year-old daughter to take care of and I have things to do. There is a reason I am here.
I am an angelic being here to do God’s work, so I decided to stay strong, stay encouraged, and keep improving myself physically, spiritually, and mentally. After I told my story, Kevin made me promise to never stay silent and always speak out; and never let silence stop what could be a life vest for the next person who could be struggling or suffering. I am on a mission just like him, and I am so grateful that I met him, was inspired by him, and inspired him too. I have a purpose to be here, and until that purpose is fulfilled and completed, I will be here. And I am going to keep my promise to Kevin Hines.
We all deserve to live and be happy, and to love and encourage one another. We all should want to live prosperous, joyful lives, loving, helping, and uplifting each other. The events were possible at each campus with the support of Student Life Offices, Help Is Here organization, and Active Minds Club. College students face many challenges during their college years, in their life journey after college, and in their careers, so it’s very important to know about the resources that can help, and to just know that there are always people who care. If you or someone you know who needs psychological help, the counseling department has a professional counselor on each campus, who can also refer to outside-of-the-college resources. Some representatives from Ohio and Cleveland organizations reminded about themselves during the Q&A part of the event, like Sunrise Treatment Center (tel. 513 941-49-99) or general Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in Ohio (direct connection number: 988).
