A MAN who tried to take his own life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, but has since become a recognised suicide prevention campaigner is to tell his story in Belfast.
Kevin Hines is to speak at the International Suicide Prevention Conference in the city to tell his inspirational story of how he turned his life around and has went on to encourage others to live and stay mentally well.
The two-day event, organised by counselling charity Contact, begins today at the Titanic Conference Centre.
The annual conference will bring keynote speakers from Ireland north and south, England and America together, reflecting on global suicide prevention policy, practice, research and leadership.
Today the conference will focus on raising the voice of mental health recover, while tomorrow notes the important role of suicide attempt survivors, safer suicide prevention messaging and near perfect depression care, driving suicide to zero in health care systems.
Mr Hines is among the keynote speakers at the conference tomorrow after his "will to live and stay mentally well has inspired people worldwide".
He came to prominence when his remarkable story of suicide attempt survival featured in the 2006 documentary The Bridge.
When Mr Hines was 19 - two years after he was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder - he tried to take his own life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.
His immediate regret the moment his feet left the bridge and his recovery has led to him becoming an award-winning suicide prevention campaigner and mental health advocate.
He has won numerous public speaking awards and published a best-selling book Cracked, Not Broken: Surviving and Thriving After a Suicide Attempt, spreading the message of living well following mental illness.
Award-winning psychiatrist Prof Ed Coffey is also due to speak at the Belfast conference, reporting on his innovative work on 'Perfect
Depression Care' - within the Henry Ford Health Care in Detroit - widely cited as a model for health care transformation.
Prof Coffey's presentation "declares that health care systems can drive suicide to zero, leadership culture change as the first step in that process".
Fergus Cumiskey, managing director of Contact, said: "The role of suicide attempt survivors as mental health advocates features strongly at this year's conference, their clearest message that suicide is preventable until the last moment of life.
"Suicide is the most preventable public health crisis of our times, and requires full cooperation between all services at crisis point."
* For further information visit. www.contactni.com