Award-winning international speaker, author, and mental health advocate Kevin Hines will speak with Cal State San Bernardino students on Tuesday, April 26.

The Cal State San Bernardino Tools for Health Resilience, Insight, Vitality, and Empowerment (THR!VE) program presents “Kevin Hines: Cracked, not Broken” from noon-2 p.m. in the university’s Santos Manuel Student Union Events Center, room 106.

The public is invited to attend the free discussion, which is sponsored by the Student Health Center, CSUSB Counseling and Psychological Services, the Office of Student Engagement, and the SMSU Pride Center. Daily parking at the university is $6 per vehicle. A book signing will follow the discussion.

“Life is the single greatest gift we have ever been given or will ever be given,” said Hines.

At 19 years old, two years after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Hines attempted to take his own life by jumping off one of the most recognizable structures to define a city, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. After four seconds, he plummeted into the water, broke his back, and shattered his vertebrate – but managed to survive. As his head slipped back under the waters, something large and sleek brushed his legs.

“Perfect,” Hines thought, “I survived the bridge only to be eaten by a shark!”

Only it wasn’t a shark, but a large seal, who circled him for the next 10 minutes until the Coast Guard finally arrived.  Pushing him up from beneath and keeping him afloat, the seal protected him and saved his life.  To this day and forever Hines believes it was God, his guardian angel, sent to give him a second chance, a whole new life purpose.

In the summer of 2013, Hines released his bestselling memoir, “Cracked Not Broken, Surviving and Thriving After a Suicide Attempt,” and is currently producing a documentary “Suicide: The Ripple Effect.”

Hines’s will to live and stay mentally well has inspired people worldwide. His compelling story has touched diverse, global audiences within colleges and universities, high schools, corporations, clergy, military, clinicians, health and medical communities, law enforcement organizations, and various conferences. Thousands have communicated to Hines that his story helped save their lives.

Hines has been featured in the critically acclaimed film “The Bridge,” and appeared on Larry King Live, 20/20, Anderson Cooper 360, Good Morning America, and Ireland’s famed Tonight with Vincent Brown. Hines has written countless articles about suicide awareness/prevention and “The Art of Living Mentally Well.”

His articles have appeared in the San Francisco Medical Magazine, The Santa Barbara Independent, New Voices at Bay, National Council Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, and Advancements in Psychiatric Treatment, and many others. He was most recently honored as a Lifetime Achievement Award Winner by the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.

Visit Kevin Hines’ website to learn more about him and his work.

CSUSB THR!VE-Health Promotion strives to create a campus culture that encourages and supports health-promoting behaviors and environments. They provide free health information, trainings, and health promotion counseling to all CSUSB students. Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. It moves beyond a focus on individual behavior towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions.

Through creative and engaging health education programming, trainings, and clinic services, students will learn how to reduce their stress, combat their anxiety and worry, understand and manage basic depressive symptoms, and recognize and prevent suicidal behavior.

THRIVE programs are supported by a grant from the California Mental Health Services Authority (CALMHSA).

For more information on THRIVE programs contact Albert Angelo, Health Educator, at aangelo@csusb.edu or at 909-537-3281.

For more information on this event, contact Tess Webster-Henry at (909) 537-3296 or by email at webster@csusb.edu.

Set in the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, CSUSB is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in inland Southern California. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015-2016, CSUSB serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually.

For more information about Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.