He got on the bus.

He had bipolar disorder.

He hadn’t been taking his prescribed medications.

He was experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations.

He was convinced no one cared, no one loved him.

He got off the bus.

He walked along the railing of the Golden Gate Bridge, some 25 stories above the frigid water of San Francisco Bay.

Then the voices he heard within his mind compelled him:

Jump.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 34, according to a 2022 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Suicide deaths were more numerous in Butler County in 2021 than in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 or 2020, according to Butler County officials.

Kevin Hines, the hallucinating 19-year-old on the Golden Gate Bridge, who had heard voices telling him he had to die, that he had no other option, had time for only what could have been his final thought.

“The millisecond my hand left the rail, I had instantaneous regret for my actions,” he said. “Absolute recognition that I had made the greatest mistake of my life. And that it was too late.”

Within four seconds of his hand leaving that rail, Hines’ body hit the water at nearly 80 mph.

He shattered three lower vertebrae.

He missed severing his spinal cord by 2 millimeters.

Butler County Community College next week will host Hines, 41, for two free public lectures about his survival and newfound hope.

Hines’ nearly hourlong “The Art of Wellness” lectures will begin at 2 p.m. and at 6 p.m. Monday in the Succop Theater on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. Seating is limited. RSVP at bc3.edu/kevin

An estimated 12.2 million adults in the United States thought seriously about suicide in 2020, according to the CDC. A quarter of them made a plan to take their own life.

Some will hear his lecture Oct. 17 in the Succop Theater, Hines said.

“They will be there,” Hines said. “There will be people in the room who are thinking or have thought about suicide.”

“Absolutely,” agreed Amy Cirelli.

Cirelli is chair of the Butler County Suicide Coalition, which has volunteer representatives from 10 community organizations and whose goal is to reduce the number of suicide deaths through education, prevention methods and support.

Josh Novak is BC3’s dean of student development, a co-chair of the college’s Campus Assessment Response and Evaluation Team and a Butler County Suicide Coalition volunteer who has trained other trainers at Butler County high schools and at other locations about suicide prevention.

“One of the biggest things we are trying to do is to shed light on the topic, and be more open about communicating the fact that you are not alone if you are struggling with mental health,” Novak said.

Hines said he thought he was alone.

“I was having hallucinations, auditory and visual,” he said. “I was having panic attacks. Heart palpitations. Manias and depressions. I was keeping the severity of my symptoms from my family and my doctors. I figured if I told them what I was really going through, they would lock me up in a white-walled, padded room and throw away the key.

“I was absolutely losing my mind, and I thought if I told anyone, they would abandon me. It was an irrational fear. Had I told anyone what I was going through, my family and friends, they would have helped me that moment. But I couldn’t see that.”

He planned on Sept. 24, 2000, that he would die the next day.

He did not.

A sea lion kept Hines afloat until he was rescued by the Coast Guard.

He never lost consciousness.

He spent more than a month in a hospital recuperating from his injuries.

It was not until his third of 10 subsequent hospitalizations in psychiatric wards, some involuntary, some voluntary, that “I realized I had to fight for my mental well-being,” Hines said. “I realized I had to work really hard on my brain health. I built a routine and a regimen to stabilize my brain.”

Hines today is a mental health and brain health advocate and a suicide prevention activist.

Hines will discuss Monday in his “The Art of Wellness” a 10-step guide to what he calls “better brain, mind, behavioral, mental, physical and spiritual health and well-being. They’re science-backed, evidence-informed techniques that are common-sense tools proven to better your brain health.”

The best way to address mental illness, Hines said, is to adhere to a regimen.

“But you have to put in the work,” Hines said. “People don’t get that. They want one pill, one exercise, one miraculous supplement to solve their problems. In reality they have to put in the work and the time to benefit their brain health and change their brain so they can change their mind.”

His lectures at BC3 will create awareness about mental health and reduce stigma, said Cirelli, who as a mental health specialist with Butler County Human Services manages higher-level care referrals for those who may benefit from programs more intensive than those for the traditional outpatient.

“Having (Hines) come here and talk about his story and his struggle not only brings awareness,” Cirelli said, “but it will also show that it is OK to talk about mental illness.”

People who are struggling with those feelings can hear him speak, and hear his story, and see how far he has come in his recovery and have hope from that.”

BC3’s 12-member Campus Assessment Response and Evaluation (CARE) Team is a campus-based resource to support anyone experiencing some form of crisis, typically a mental-health crisis, Novak said.

Hines’ “The Art of Wellness” is presented by BC3, Butler County Human Services, the Butler County Suicide Coalition, the Butler Area School District, the Center for Community Resources, Clarion Psychiatric and iRise Suicide Prevention.

Hines said he sees life through a different lens than he did Sept. 25, 2000.

“Every day I get to walk this Earth,” he said, “is a gift. Every person I get to meet is the same. I’m grateful to exist. I am grateful to be anywhere. And I share that with the audience as well.”

BC3 will also offer two free one-night classes next week about preventing veterans’ suicide deaths.

Suicide rates for military veterans are 1½ times higher than for nonveterans, according to a 2018 report by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“Veterans Suicide: Suicide Prevention is Everybody’s Business” will be Tuesday, Oct. 18 at BC3 @ Cranberry in Cranberry Township and Wednesday, Oct. 19 online. The three-hour noncredit classes begin at 6 p.m.

“Veteran Suicide: Suicide Prevention is Everyone’s Business” has been offered through BC3’s Lifelong Learning division nine times since September 2020. Register for classes at bc3.edu/lifelong.

Bill Foley is coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.