ESU Raises Awareness for Suicide Prevention With Walk, Movie and Lecture By Award-Winning Speaker, Author and Mental Health Advocate Who Survived a Suicide Attempt

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Counseling and Psychological Services, in conjunction with the student organization, Active Minds, will use this opportunity to raise awareness by organizing three events which are open to the general public at no cost. On Tuesday, September 30, ESU will be the host site for the Out of the Darkness Community Walk to raise funds to support suicide awareness followed by a presentation byKevin Hines, an award-winning international speaker, author and mental health advocate. The Out of the Darkness Walk, sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Suicide Coalition of Monroe County and ESU, will begin with registration at 5:15 p.m. at the Hoeffner Science and Technology Center located on Normal Street. The walk will commence at 6:00 p.m. and will be followed immediately at 7:00 p.m. with Hines’s appearance in the Keystone Room.

Hines’s lecture is a compelling tale of his suicide attempt that ended with him surviving a jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. At the age of 19 in 2000, two years after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Hines attempted to take his own life by jumping from the United States’ most popular suicide site. Immediately regretting his decision, Hines tried to position himself so he could survive the crash into the water.

Hines appeared on CNN with Dr. Sanjay Gupta in June and has also been seen on Larry King Live, 20/20, Anderson Cooper 360, and Good Morning America. He has inspired hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. His book, “Cracked, Not Broken: Surviving and Thriving After a Suicide Attempt,” was released on July 16, 2013, and has since entered its 14^th printing. Hines will sign copies of his book immediately following his presentation. Copies of the book will also be available for purchase after his lecture.

Prior to Hines’s lecture and the Out of the Darkness Walk, the documentary, “The Bridge,” will be shown at Pocono Community Theater on Sunday, September 28, at 7:00 p.m. The 2006 film, by Eric Steel, intertwines interviews with the stories of a handful of individuals who committed suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004, a time during which cameras were set up on the bridge and caught the individuals’ last moments. An estimated 1,600 people have committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge since it opened in 1937. Hines is believed to be one of only 33 people who have survived the jump.

For more information about any of these events, contact ESU’s Office of Counseling and Psychological Services at 570-422-3277. To register for the Out of the Darkness Community Walk in Monroe County, visit http://afsp.donordrive.com/.

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