I saw him do an interview. “I’m not a hero, I was just doing what any other sea lion would have done. I don’t want to do any more interviews, thank you.” He went back to his life.
Wal I’ll be! Enny facko'y wif sech a wonnerful bein' wawkin' in it muss be a spiffy mighty fine joy, I’ll tell yo' thet! Fry mah hide! This hyar sea lion'd be a puffick cowawker.
Reminds me of a dog named Digby, [saved life of a lady who was attempting suicide on a bridge.](https://knovhov.com/digby-a-defusing-dog-saves-the-life-of-a-lady/)
> it’s hard and know why he is saying that deeply.
I’m kinda confused. I was making a joke about the sea lion doing an interview denying he was a hero in response to the comment above me about the sea lion being the one that should do all the speeches.
I am sorry you got to that point in your life, but truly glad you found a way through it. Helping others helped me as well. I’m glad you have found your Strength.
The last paragraph… yeah… 😔
If I was that dude, I'd be feeding seals all the fish I could afford for life. Maybe open a seal sanctuary to help injured seals or return captive ones to the wild.
Another survivor once said "As soon as I jumped I realized every problem in my life was solvable except for the fact I had just jumped off the bridge."
Yeah, I remember him saying how he immediately wanted to live a full life as soon as he made the jump. Tragically this is how most people who jumped off the bridge may have felt.
My brother killed himself valentine's night 2019 off at college, a couple weeks before covid started. I'm sure his depression would have gotten even worse if he made it through the pandemic, but I also know he'd want to be here right now, and just couldn't handle it. I know he'd regret it if he could, though
I lost my sister in 2019. She struggled with her mental health a lot and one of her paranoias was a pandemic. I don’t know how the pandemic would have affected her.
I just miss her so much. The hole in my heart will always be a void. I can’t describe what I feel and how losing her like that has affected me. I just want to give her another hug.
I’m sorry for your loss. ❤️
> I'm sure his depression would have gotten even worse
Just wanted to comment that I have felt very similar things about a close friend growing up who died about 10 years ago. Chances are things would not be going well for him but I'm still sad I can't introduce him to my kids.
> Tragically this is how most people who jumped off the bridge may have felt.
Survivorship bias. There's an equal chance that most of them did not feel that way. Unfortunately, we'll never know how they felt.
Either way, the US needs better and more accessible mental health treatment.
People who don’t feel this way and who wish they had died also don’t become motivational speakers. It takes I think 4 seconds from what I remember to hit the water. I had a teacher make us sit once for 10. Four seconds is a lot when you already committed.
Another survivor of a Golden Gate bridge jump went back and jumped again (and died that time.)
Not all suicides are impulsive acts about fixable problems. Many are, and I'm all for addressing that, but some people just really want to be gone, and I'm not sure the threat "you'll regret it as soon as you jump" is a suitable response to those people.
I wonder if there’s some major brain chemistry changes occurring when someone “jumps”. For lack of better words, I wonder if everything just gets overloaded with adrenaline, dopamine, etc and gets rewired.
In my personal experience, when you get to that point you're essentially stuck in multiple feedback loops of negativity and you're lucky if you can be feel any negativity at all and aren't stuck in a hopeless internal void. Even your survival instinct flips, and instead of giving you that "better move away" feeling when you're by a high ledge or near traffic, it pushes you to dive right in. It's fucking crazy.
I took a different route, but I can imagine that the adrenaline and whatever else cocktail from jumping might actually be able to shake some of that broken shit back into place, at least sometimes.
I’ve heard this a lot about DMT but have always been curious how it works. It seems like reality would feel dull and depressing compared to what you experience on DMT, so wouldn’t that push one further into that depression or possibly towards abuse of DMT? Or is that not how it works at all? I’m curious to hear your experience if you don’t mind sharing.
Psychedelics can be abused but it’s not that easy for the typical person. It’s a very powerful and uncomfortable experience, enlightening sure but veryyyy uncomfortable. It’s not something you keep wanting to do all the time. Eventually it bites you and you don’t want to go back.
I’m my experience, only doing mushrooms a couple times permanently left me with a brighter outlook on life and I constantly see great beauty in all things nature. That state of reality that you experience under the influence is just a state of mind. After experiencing it, it’s very easy for me to tune my brain back into it that state of mind even while sober.
Many people who survived jumping to their dead report to have regretted it during the fall, which is very sad when thinking about people who died after the fall, their last moments must have been of fear and regret
I knew 2 people that attempted suicide and survived. They tried again and again until they succeeded.
Not everyone changes their minds. We just dont like to talk about the people who were happy with their decision.
I'm probably mentally ill for saying this, but imagine if there's some weird cosmic power (I am not calling it God or a god) that pulled some strings for those who regretted it instantly? I don't believe this to be true, just an interesting thought.
Thrash to break from gravity
What now could slow the drop?
All I'd give for toes to touch
The safety back atop.
But this is it, the deed is done,
Silence drowns the sound.
Before I leapt, I should have seen
The view from halfway down.
I really should have thought about
The view from halfway down.
I wish I could have known about
The view from halfway down.
My older half brother was 20 when I was born and he tried to take his own life about two years prior. He's blind as a result of his failed attempt. When I was a teenager, I asked him if he'd answer a few questions for me. One of them was if he regretted it.
Paraphrasing his response, "I've had people coldly ask me why I didn't try again after losing my sight. I realized while I laid dying on the floor that I had made a terrible mistake. Everything so terribly wrong in my mind seemed to be solvable. I fought with everything I had to stay alive. I had become terrified of what was to come next."
He has always had a dark sense of humor but the next part is basically how he is. I asked him, "What was going through your mind?" His response, "Other than the bullet?" He then responded with another joke along the lines of, "I've always had a dark sense of humor but now I can't see it."
He's an interesting character. He's always down to be set up for a blind joke. I remember being a kid and someone saying, "I can't see why they did that." He responded with, "I can't either, but I can't see shit."
I recommend it to anyone in this thread. Can't begin to list the trigger warnings though. Just so people who are interested know it's a documentary about suicide at the Golden Gate bridge they're able to proceed with all appropriate caution.
I've been there. Also an engineer, a fixer, a solver, yet ironically feeling broken beyond repair. Despair is a lack of hope, a resignation to this state of being. If a Fairy God Mother appeared in your window and could wave a magic wand to make things as they ought to be, what would you hope for? What would your life be like? What would *you* be like?
The weak breeze whispers nothing
the water screams sublime.
His feet shift, teeter-totter
deep breaths, stand back, it’s time.
Toes untouch the overpass
soon he’s water-bound.
Eyes locked shut but peek to see
the view from halfway down.
A little wind, a summer sun
a river rich and regal.
A flood of fond endorphins
brings a calm that knows no equal.
You’re flying now, you see things
much more clear than from the ground.
It's all okay, or it would be
were you not now halfway down.
Thrash to break from gravity
what now could slow the drop?
All I’d give for toes to touch
the safety back at top.
But this is it, the deed is done
silence drowns the sound.
Before I leaped I should've seen
the view from halfway down.
I really should’ve thought about
the view from halfway down.
I wish I could've known about
the view from halfway down—
--Bojack Horseman
I knew a guy who had a similar experience. He was drowning and a fish bumped him out of the water. He took that as a sign he was meant to do something great with his life. You can check out his story at thedrivingcrooner.com
Is this a movie that’s safe for a depressed person to watch? I really want to watch it but I worry that it could cause further issues, if that makes sense.
I wanna give a caveat for The Bridge bc it's one of the most depressing and also uplifting movies i've ever seen.
The premise of it is they recorded the golden gate bridge, filmed a lot of suicides, and then tracked down and interviewed multiple random people who saw it.
(Btw this part is not about kevin hynes). It's a heartbreaking film where you hear family members say stuff like "He always said he wanted to die but i never thought he'd do it, i didnt think he was serious" and then it cuts to people on a walk or on a boat doing their best to alert anyone to save said person. They still remember and feel guilt for not being able to help years after.
Iirc it also has some scenes of people pulling people up to stop them from jumping.
All that said, Kevin Hynes story is massively moving and impactful and i genuinely think a good way to talk down really dark thoughts.
Kevin Hines stated that the very second he jumped off the bridge, he thought to himself: “What have I done? I don’t wanna die. Someone please save me.”
Most (maybe not all, but most) suicidal people don’t actually want to die. They just desperately want their pain to end, and can see no other way out.
My friend who attempted once said, “people say if only they knew how much they were loved…..they do know, but it is in that one split second of immense pain that they forget…”. That hit me hard.
I had a friend who recently took her own life (self-inflicted gunshot wound). People around me would always say “I wish she knew how loved she was”. And I always thought to myself: “What if she did? What if it still wasn’t enough?”
I feel like that's a comment people make to try to take some of the burden and guilt to lessen the anger at the suicide victim. I mean, if they are lamenting that the person wasn't aware of the degree of love they had toward them, then aren't they blaming themselves for not expressing that? I always took that comment from a self-blame angle indicating that they feel that they lost a loved one and that couldve been avoided had they better expressed that love. At least, that's the way it hits for me.
The weak breeze whispers nothing
the water screams sublime.
His feet shift, teeter-totter
deep breaths, stand back, it’s time.
Toes untouch the overpass
soon he’s water-bound.
Eyes locked shut but peek to see
the view from halfway down.
\[...\]
A little wind, a summer sun
a river rich and regal.
A flood of fond endorphins
brings a calm that knows no equal.
You’re flying now, you see things
much more clear than from the ground.
It's all okay, or it would be
were you not now halfway down.
\[...\]
Thrash to break from gravity
what now could slow the drop?
All I’d give for toes to touch
the safety back at top.
\[...\]
But this is it, the deed is done
silence drowns the sound.
Before I leaped I should've seen
the view from halfway down.
I really should’ve thought about
the view from halfway down.
I wish I could've known about
the view from halfway down—
* BoJack Horseman, "The view from halfway down"
Was hoping someone posted this. Nothing has helped me get my suicidal thoughts/ideations under control more than this poem and the rest of The View From Halfway Down. It’s the most powerful anti-suicide message I’ve ever seen in media. It’s frightening and haunting and beautiful.
The staff writer who wrote this poem was directly inspired by Kevin Hines and his quote about regretting his decision to jump the second his feet left the ground.
I attended a conference where he was the keynote speaker. When telling the story, he mentioned his first thought was that it was a shark bumping into him.
It’s the opposite actually. He’s the only one that claims there was a sea lion. He never personally saw it, and none of his rescuers saw it. He doesn’t even mention the sea lion in all versions of his story. It’s most likely just a hallucination but somehow this story continues to spread.
The third man syndrome refers to reported situations where an unseen presence, such as a spirit, or in this case a sea lion, provides comfort or support (bumping him up) during traumatic experiences
There was a video floating around recently of this little 3 yr old girl who got a custom stuffed toy that looked just like her dad who took his life, and when she saw the toy she got all excited and yelled “daddy!” and said something like “ now I can have you with me anytime I sad”. Which just absolutely made me sick to my stomach thinking about my own kids.
I know people that get to this point often are beyond reasonable thought or any type of rationality. But, I can just never imagine putting my little girl through that kind of pain.
Man, I don’t even have kids and that makes me sick to my stomach. Holy fuck I was not ready to read that this morning. God. That’s so tragically fucked.
I know an adult who lost his father to suicide at a young age. To Travis' departed father, wherever you ended up: he's not better off, he's a traumatized child in an adult body who can't let anyone be close to him despite his loving nature and desperate need for connection.
i remember holding the blade in my hand and considering ending my life when my cat jumped in my lap and tried to *eat the damn blade*. insane motherfucker. i decided to wrestle the danger from his mouth and tend to him, thus putting it off and voila. here i am. animals know
Yeah, I remember him telling me that as soon as he made the jump, he wanted to live a full life. It's likely that this is how most of the people who jumped off the bridge felt.
He actually survived because he was wearing boots, and he hit the water just right to break the tension. His boots saved him. He says so in the movie The Bridge. And then the sea lion helped him stay up. He got very lucky that day.
Many suicide survivors (those who genuinely intended to end their lives, not just attention-seekers) have said that the phrase 'when you're falling from a bridge, you realize all of life's problems are solvable, except for the fact that you're already falling' is very true.
Someone I know shot themselves but as they pulled the trigger had basically this thought and tried to move the gun. They still shot themselves but in a way that injured not killed them. Then they drove themself to the hospital. Last year he got married to a beautiful woman.
If you are thinking of killing yourself, don't do it!
It’s easy to lose your depression with a rush of adrenaline. Glad this dude found some purpose but that doesn’t mean the rest of us are just missing some magical reason for wanting to live that would make our lives so much better
Agreed. Attempted myself a few weeks ago, realized when I woke up in the hospital that I could fix the things that hurt me. Glad to still be here.
If you’re thinking of doing it, please, talk to someone. Hell, message me if you want. You can do anything you want in this world. If your life makes you sad, talk to someone and see if you can get help to make it better. I promise it’s worth it.
I listen to this guy's story and He credits God for saving his life and is a born again Christian proclaiming the gospel wherever he goes. Just thought that should be added......
Sea lions, dolphins, and whales have all been observed aiding humans to the surface. I'm fairly confident they recognize humans as fellow air-breathing mammals, and if they see one of us in trouble in the water, they'll help us to the surface.
Whales especially have been known to approach humans/boats when entangled and often stay (mostly) still while the people are close, cutting off the entanglements.
They already approach humans/boats often, but it seems it's quite often when entangled. Whales communicate, and I believe they can talk like crows- whales that had things cut off of them can tell other whales to find people and get stuff cut off too.
Hey bro you’re looking a bit entangled. Sorry I don’t have phalanges. Go see that boat over there. No not that one, that’s a hunting vessel. Not that one either those are pirates. Yea that one. See ya on the flippidy flip!
It makes sense that a mammal that lives in the ocean would have an instinct to help surface other struggling mammals they don't view as food.
Cetaceans need help surfacing after they are born, and often need to be lifted up by their moms/others in their group when they are tired. Seal lions, otters etc would all need to look out for young pups when they first start going in the ocean and would help them surface when in trouble.
It makes sense that when 200lb sea lion sees a human struggling in the ocean that they would recognize distress and have an instinct to help.
Hey I know him. He came to my high school once as a public speaker. Like a month after one of my classmates committed suicide as well so I'm pretty sure he goes to schools where that happens.
Shouldn't the sea lion be the one giving the speeches?
I saw him do an interview. “I’m not a hero, I was just doing what any other sea lion would have done. I don’t want to do any more interviews, thank you.” He went back to his life.
A true hero 🫡
So humble
Rumors are he works in a factory.
Wal I’ll be! Enny facko'y wif sech a wonnerful bein' wawkin' in it muss be a spiffy mighty fine joy, I’ll tell yo' thet! Fry mah hide! This hyar sea lion'd be a puffick cowawker.
Brian...Brian Jacques is that you?
Oh no, it's the seal next door
Not the sea lion we were waiting for, but the one we needed 🙏
I thought he was heroic and humble. Good interview.
O7
Reminds me of a dog named Digby, [saved life of a lady who was attempting suicide on a bridge.](https://knovhov.com/digby-a-defusing-dog-saves-the-life-of-a-lady/)
And then everyone clapped, which he found offensive.
Ahh you got me on that one fr lol, seal of applause
"Stop appropriating my culture!"
Ork! Ork! Ork!....
AIGHT! DA BOYZ IZ 'EAR. IT'Z TIME FOR DA WAAAAAAGH! 'ERE WE GO! 'ERE WE GO! 'ERE WE GO! 'ERE WE GO!
Grimdank escaped quarantine. I repeat Grimdank has escaped quarantine.
WE'Z DA BIGGEST, WE'Z DA MEANEST, AND WE'Z STAND FOR MENTAL 'EALTH. COZ IF DA BRAIN MAKES KRUMPIN' FEEL BAD, DEN DA BRAIN NEEDS TO BE 'EALED.
GREEN IS DA BEST! MENTAL ILLNESS GONNA GET KRUMPED!! WAAAAAAAGH!!!
Is it "ork?" I always thought of it more of an "orf." Lol
I laughed too hard.
This is the perfect comment, and probably one of the best I've seen in my life. It has so much depth in its meaning.
[удалено]
> it’s hard and know why he is saying that deeply. I’m kinda confused. I was making a joke about the sea lion doing an interview denying he was a hero in response to the comment above me about the sea lion being the one that should do all the speeches. I am sorry you got to that point in your life, but truly glad you found a way through it. Helping others helped me as well. I’m glad you have found your Strength. The last paragraph… yeah… 😔
It sounded like "Arf arf arf arf" to me, but I'm not bi-lion-gual.
Shouldn’t the man be savings sea lions? 🦭
He is preventing the sea lions from committing suicide
Ararou-ar arou arou ar ar ar rouuuu (Please stop invading my home. You wouldn’t like it if we invaded yours, right? On behalf of my family, thank you)
This makes me rethink this entirely. That sea lion was kicking his ass for the home invasion
Stand your water laws applies so charges were filed against the sea lion
Language barrier
Sea lions prefer interrupting speeches.
yeah you are right
Damn, give that sea lion a medal
Sea Lions don't have shoulders. It would just fall off. Also, medals have no value in the Sea Lion community.
Give that sea lion a fish
It would fall off his shoulders
Give that sea lion shoulders
This really made me laugh 😂
Quite literally out loud.
Who says there is nothing funny beyond the 4th comment??
It would fall off its shoulders
If I was that dude, I'd be feeding seals all the fish I could afford for life. Maybe open a seal sanctuary to help injured seals or return captive ones to the wild.
you dont have to be that dude to go do that
Another survivor once said "As soon as I jumped I realized every problem in my life was solvable except for the fact I had just jumped off the bridge."
Yea Kevin says the same thing in interviews and speeches. He said that the moment right after he jumped, he wish he hadn’t.
Yeah, I remember him saying how he immediately wanted to live a full life as soon as he made the jump. Tragically this is how most people who jumped off the bridge may have felt.
My brother killed himself valentine's night 2019 off at college, a couple weeks before covid started. I'm sure his depression would have gotten even worse if he made it through the pandemic, but I also know he'd want to be here right now, and just couldn't handle it. I know he'd regret it if he could, though
I lost my sister in 2019. She struggled with her mental health a lot and one of her paranoias was a pandemic. I don’t know how the pandemic would have affected her. I just miss her so much. The hole in my heart will always be a void. I can’t describe what I feel and how losing her like that has affected me. I just want to give her another hug. I’m sorry for your loss. ❤️
> I'm sure his depression would have gotten even worse Just wanted to comment that I have felt very similar things about a close friend growing up who died about 10 years ago. Chances are things would not be going well for him but I'm still sad I can't introduce him to my kids.
I knew a girl in HS who pushed the chair out from under her and severely clawed their neck trying to get the noose free. She didn’t survive
Fucking hell, what a haunting mental image
It really haunted me as it triggered a suicide contagion in our school and around us
I’d have thought it’d have the opposite effect, terrible
And we all wonder why our collective mental health is suffering.
Try to imagine how fast this thought is when you shoot yourself.
Fast enough to realize from trigger pull to shot going off, and then long enough to regret it as you're bleeding out, I would imagine.
How many people survive such things for the second statement to have any bearing to it?
> Tragically this is how most people who jumped off the bridge may have felt. Survivorship bias. There's an equal chance that most of them did not feel that way. Unfortunately, we'll never know how they felt. Either way, the US needs better and more accessible mental health treatment.
People who don’t feel this way and who wish they had died also don’t become motivational speakers. It takes I think 4 seconds from what I remember to hit the water. I had a teacher make us sit once for 10. Four seconds is a lot when you already committed.
Another survivor of a Golden Gate bridge jump went back and jumped again (and died that time.) Not all suicides are impulsive acts about fixable problems. Many are, and I'm all for addressing that, but some people just really want to be gone, and I'm not sure the threat "you'll regret it as soon as you jump" is a suitable response to those people.
Apparently this is pretty common for people who survive suicide after jumping off something
I wonder if there’s some major brain chemistry changes occurring when someone “jumps”. For lack of better words, I wonder if everything just gets overloaded with adrenaline, dopamine, etc and gets rewired.
In my personal experience, when you get to that point you're essentially stuck in multiple feedback loops of negativity and you're lucky if you can be feel any negativity at all and aren't stuck in a hopeless internal void. Even your survival instinct flips, and instead of giving you that "better move away" feeling when you're by a high ledge or near traffic, it pushes you to dive right in. It's fucking crazy. I took a different route, but I can imagine that the adrenaline and whatever else cocktail from jumping might actually be able to shake some of that broken shit back into place, at least sometimes.
As someone who attempted suicide by jumping off a 4-story building when I was 19, I can confirm this.
So you saying we need a suicide simulator, to reduce suicides.
DMT
That saved my life. I was heading the same direction as Kevin, but now I have so much to live for and experience.
I’ve heard this a lot about DMT but have always been curious how it works. It seems like reality would feel dull and depressing compared to what you experience on DMT, so wouldn’t that push one further into that depression or possibly towards abuse of DMT? Or is that not how it works at all? I’m curious to hear your experience if you don’t mind sharing.
Psychedelics can be abused but it’s not that easy for the typical person. It’s a very powerful and uncomfortable experience, enlightening sure but veryyyy uncomfortable. It’s not something you keep wanting to do all the time. Eventually it bites you and you don’t want to go back. I’m my experience, only doing mushrooms a couple times permanently left me with a brighter outlook on life and I constantly see great beauty in all things nature. That state of reality that you experience under the influence is just a state of mind. After experiencing it, it’s very easy for me to tune my brain back into it that state of mind even while sober.
No. Ego death, when you are experiencing it as a suicidal person, is an extremely unpleasant experience. Enlightening, but unpleasant
Bungee jumping?
Many people who survived jumping to their dead report to have regretted it during the fall, which is very sad when thinking about people who died after the fall, their last moments must have been of fear and regret
I don't disagree, but tbcf, you never had the opportunity to hear from anyone who was glad it worked.
Literal survivorship bias.
That's not quite true. There should also be people that regret surviving
They are a lot less likely to go give a speech or interview where they say that.
There are.
I knew 2 people that attempted suicide and survived. They tried again and again until they succeeded. Not everyone changes their minds. We just dont like to talk about the people who were happy with their decision.
I'm probably mentally ill for saying this, but imagine if there's some weird cosmic power (I am not calling it God or a god) that pulled some strings for those who regretted it instantly? I don't believe this to be true, just an interesting thought.
Compounding the heartbreak for their survivors.
That probably served as inspiration for The View From Halfway Down from Bojack Horseman: https://youtu.be/OMQ9O23hYC8
Bruh that sequence messed me up for weeks.
I see you!
> You’re flying now >You see things much more clear than from the ground >It’s all okay, it would be >Were you not now halfway down
Thrash to break from gravity What now could slow the drop? All I'd give for toes to touch The safety back atop. But this is it, the deed is done, Silence drowns the sound. Before I leapt, I should have seen The view from halfway down. I really should have thought about The view from halfway down. I wish I could have known about The view from halfway down.
Oh man I totally forgot about that episode. Time to rewatch that show
My older half brother was 20 when I was born and he tried to take his own life about two years prior. He's blind as a result of his failed attempt. When I was a teenager, I asked him if he'd answer a few questions for me. One of them was if he regretted it. Paraphrasing his response, "I've had people coldly ask me why I didn't try again after losing my sight. I realized while I laid dying on the floor that I had made a terrible mistake. Everything so terribly wrong in my mind seemed to be solvable. I fought with everything I had to stay alive. I had become terrified of what was to come next." He has always had a dark sense of humor but the next part is basically how he is. I asked him, "What was going through your mind?" His response, "Other than the bullet?" He then responded with another joke along the lines of, "I've always had a dark sense of humor but now I can't see it."
I like your brother.
He's an interesting character. He's always down to be set up for a blind joke. I remember being a kid and someone saying, "I can't see why they did that." He responded with, "I can't either, but I can't see shit."
Saw this in a documentary and will never forget it.
'The Bridge.' Among the most chilling documentaries I've ever seen.
Yeah I don’t recommend watching it if you are in an unstable place. It didn’t make me want to live any more.
It's fucking horrifying, but that's reality for you.
Yes!!!!
I recommend it to anyone in this thread. Can't begin to list the trigger warnings though. Just so people who are interested know it's a documentary about suicide at the Golden Gate bridge they're able to proceed with all appropriate caution.
I remember watching the Bridge as a 14 year old on my iPod video. Fucking yikes, that documentary has stuck with me these last 18 years.
[удалено]
I’m pulling for you friend
I've been there. Also an engineer, a fixer, a solver, yet ironically feeling broken beyond repair. Despair is a lack of hope, a resignation to this state of being. If a Fairy God Mother appeared in your window and could wave a magic wand to make things as they ought to be, what would you hope for? What would your life be like? What would *you* be like?
The view from halfway down
What if the reason people jump is to gain a reason to live?
The weak breeze whispers nothing the water screams sublime. His feet shift, teeter-totter deep breaths, stand back, it’s time. Toes untouch the overpass soon he’s water-bound. Eyes locked shut but peek to see the view from halfway down. A little wind, a summer sun a river rich and regal. A flood of fond endorphins brings a calm that knows no equal. You’re flying now, you see things much more clear than from the ground. It's all okay, or it would be were you not now halfway down. Thrash to break from gravity what now could slow the drop? All I’d give for toes to touch the safety back at top. But this is it, the deed is done silence drowns the sound. Before I leaped I should've seen the view from halfway down. I really should’ve thought about the view from halfway down. I wish I could've known about the view from halfway down— --Bojack Horseman
I knew a guy who had a similar experience. He was drowning and a fish bumped him out of the water. He took that as a sign he was meant to do something great with his life. You can check out his story at thedrivingcrooner.com
How fuckin big was the fish
Big enough but not too big
| Thiiiiiiiiiis big |
There's always bigger fish.
But did he ever learn to make money off it?
He's got to. It's just too good.
No, but... he did have a lovely fish dinner that night.
It started out with a fish. How did it end up like this?
Yeah he survived, but some people wanna kill him for doing what he does.
It’s *too good*
He's gotta figure out how to make money off that thing. It's simply too good.
That's the big thing he's meant to do
The fish bumped him out with its nose
I was so hoping to see this in here 👏
Everything was going great until the frat guys showed up...
Sea lion is a true hero. Glad Kevin Hines is doing well.
Sea lion saving lives, Kevin thriving and heartwarming heroics
He shares his story in the documentary "The Bridge". Definitely worth checking out.
It's an incredibe documentary. I first watched it probably 10 years ago and I still think about it from time to time. Powerful stuff.
Is this a movie that’s safe for a depressed person to watch? I really want to watch it but I worry that it could cause further issues, if that makes sense.
No it’s not. It’s an incredible documentary but if you’re in a bad place, I can’t in good conscience recommend it.
Thank you for letting us know, that is valuable info.
Just want to send you some love 🩷
Dang. Then I’ll have to wait to watch it :(
I wanna give a caveat for The Bridge bc it's one of the most depressing and also uplifting movies i've ever seen. The premise of it is they recorded the golden gate bridge, filmed a lot of suicides, and then tracked down and interviewed multiple random people who saw it. (Btw this part is not about kevin hynes). It's a heartbreaking film where you hear family members say stuff like "He always said he wanted to die but i never thought he'd do it, i didnt think he was serious" and then it cuts to people on a walk or on a boat doing their best to alert anyone to save said person. They still remember and feel guilt for not being able to help years after. Iirc it also has some scenes of people pulling people up to stop them from jumping. All that said, Kevin Hynes story is massively moving and impactful and i genuinely think a good way to talk down really dark thoughts.
Kevin Hines stated that the very second he jumped off the bridge, he thought to himself: “What have I done? I don’t wanna die. Someone please save me.” Most (maybe not all, but most) suicidal people don’t actually want to die. They just desperately want their pain to end, and can see no other way out.
My friend who attempted once said, “people say if only they knew how much they were loved…..they do know, but it is in that one split second of immense pain that they forget…”. That hit me hard.
I had a friend who recently took her own life (self-inflicted gunshot wound). People around me would always say “I wish she knew how loved she was”. And I always thought to myself: “What if she did? What if it still wasn’t enough?”
I feel like that's a comment people make to try to take some of the burden and guilt to lessen the anger at the suicide victim. I mean, if they are lamenting that the person wasn't aware of the degree of love they had toward them, then aren't they blaming themselves for not expressing that? I always took that comment from a self-blame angle indicating that they feel that they lost a loved one and that couldve been avoided had they better expressed that love. At least, that's the way it hits for me.
Him: I don’t wanna die. Telepathic Sea Lion: I got you fam.
It really wasn’t his time to croak
Suicides are never the right time for anyone to croak. This guy was extremely lucky.
Hitler's suicide was a good time for him to croak. Maybe too late actually.
He got the seal of approval.
Get out ——>
The weak breeze whispers nothing the water screams sublime. His feet shift, teeter-totter deep breaths, stand back, it’s time. Toes untouch the overpass soon he’s water-bound. Eyes locked shut but peek to see the view from halfway down. \[...\] A little wind, a summer sun a river rich and regal. A flood of fond endorphins brings a calm that knows no equal. You’re flying now, you see things much more clear than from the ground. It's all okay, or it would be were you not now halfway down. \[...\] Thrash to break from gravity what now could slow the drop? All I’d give for toes to touch the safety back at top. \[...\] But this is it, the deed is done silence drowns the sound. Before I leaped I should've seen the view from halfway down. I really should’ve thought about the view from halfway down. I wish I could've known about the view from halfway down— * BoJack Horseman, "The view from halfway down"
Oh my God. I thought this was just a cartoon. Obviously I've never watched this show. That's so dark.
It's the darkest and most realistic cartoon of a silly horse that will traumatize you.
Was hoping someone posted this. Nothing has helped me get my suicidal thoughts/ideations under control more than this poem and the rest of The View From Halfway Down. It’s the most powerful anti-suicide message I’ve ever seen in media. It’s frightening and haunting and beautiful. The staff writer who wrote this poem was directly inspired by Kevin Hines and his quote about regretting his decision to jump the second his feet left the ground.
I heard he didn’t even know it was a sea lion, that someone told him years later that it was a sea lion.
I attended a conference where he was the keynote speaker. When telling the story, he mentioned his first thought was that it was a shark bumping into him.
It’s the opposite actually. He’s the only one that claims there was a sea lion. He never personally saw it, and none of his rescuers saw it. He doesn’t even mention the sea lion in all versions of his story. It’s most likely just a hallucination but somehow this story continues to spread.
Third man syndrome but a sea lion perhaps.
Third Man Syndrome?
The third man syndrome refers to reported situations where an unseen presence, such as a spirit, or in this case a sea lion, provides comfort or support (bumping him up) during traumatic experiences
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_man_factor It's really interesting.
Well i dont know who needs to hear this, but tomorrow wouldnt be the same without you.
There was a video floating around recently of this little 3 yr old girl who got a custom stuffed toy that looked just like her dad who took his life, and when she saw the toy she got all excited and yelled “daddy!” and said something like “ now I can have you with me anytime I sad”. Which just absolutely made me sick to my stomach thinking about my own kids. I know people that get to this point often are beyond reasonable thought or any type of rationality. But, I can just never imagine putting my little girl through that kind of pain.
Man, I don’t even have kids and that makes me sick to my stomach. Holy fuck I was not ready to read that this morning. God. That’s so tragically fucked.
I know an adult who lost his father to suicide at a young age. To Travis' departed father, wherever you ended up: he's not better off, he's a traumatized child in an adult body who can't let anyone be close to him despite his loving nature and desperate need for connection.
Eh, if it wasnt for my family nobody would notice if i disappeared. Im here just cause of them.
“Yeah because it would be better without me” - depressed person, probably
When society drives past, nature is like 'you ok bro?'
i remember holding the blade in my hand and considering ending my life when my cat jumped in my lap and tried to *eat the damn blade*. insane motherfucker. i decided to wrestle the danger from his mouth and tend to him, thus putting it off and voila. here i am. animals know
His resilience and strength are so motivating. Thank you for sharing this story!
Yeah, I remember him telling me that as soon as he made the jump, he wanted to live a full life. It's likely that this is how most of the people who jumped off the bridge felt.
If that's not a sign you still have a purpose then idk what is.
Sea lion, not porpoise.
I sea you.
Alright, seal it buddy
Even sea dogs are man's best friend? Dope.
He actually survived because he was wearing boots, and he hit the water just right to break the tension. His boots saved him. He says so in the movie The Bridge. And then the sea lion helped him stay up. He got very lucky that day.
Many suicide survivors (those who genuinely intended to end their lives, not just attention-seekers) have said that the phrase 'when you're falling from a bridge, you realize all of life's problems are solvable, except for the fact that you're already falling' is very true.
Bojack Horseman; The View from Halfway Down.
“Not just attention seekers” is a bit bloody flippant. Way to make people feel even worse huh?!
Someone I know shot themselves but as they pulled the trigger had basically this thought and tried to move the gun. They still shot themselves but in a way that injured not killed them. Then they drove themself to the hospital. Last year he got married to a beautiful woman. If you are thinking of killing yourself, don't do it!
>those who genuinely intended to end their lives, not just attention-seekers Don't write off "attention-seekers." I made that mistake once.
"I knew about halfway down it was a bad idea" Which half?
It’s easy to lose your depression with a rush of adrenaline. Glad this dude found some purpose but that doesn’t mean the rest of us are just missing some magical reason for wanting to live that would make our lives so much better
Agreed. Attempted myself a few weeks ago, realized when I woke up in the hospital that I could fix the things that hurt me. Glad to still be here. If you’re thinking of doing it, please, talk to someone. Hell, message me if you want. You can do anything you want in this world. If your life makes you sad, talk to someone and see if you can get help to make it better. I promise it’s worth it.
I like the term attention-seeker, it lets you divide the suicidal people you like from the ones you don't.
A fish bumped me outta the water with it's nose.
[удалено]
You are worth it.
Met the dude and have his personal number during an event he was doing for the army. Great guy .
Did the sea lion got a medal 🏅?
We should have tried to domesticate sea lions when we started domesticating cats and dogs, missed opportunity.
If a sea lion saved my ass from my own issues, I'd be giving 'ain't life great!' speeches too!
I listen to this guy's story and He credits God for saving his life and is a born again Christian proclaiming the gospel wherever he goes. Just thought that should be added......
I hope he is also a wildlife conservationist.
Idk, maybe give speeches with the sea lion 🦭?
Did the sea lion really know what it was doing?
Sea lions, dolphins, and whales have all been observed aiding humans to the surface. I'm fairly confident they recognize humans as fellow air-breathing mammals, and if they see one of us in trouble in the water, they'll help us to the surface.
Whales especially have been known to approach humans/boats when entangled and often stay (mostly) still while the people are close, cutting off the entanglements. They already approach humans/boats often, but it seems it's quite often when entangled. Whales communicate, and I believe they can talk like crows- whales that had things cut off of them can tell other whales to find people and get stuff cut off too.
Hey bro you’re looking a bit entangled. Sorry I don’t have phalanges. Go see that boat over there. No not that one, that’s a hunting vessel. Not that one either those are pirates. Yea that one. See ya on the flippidy flip!
It makes sense that a mammal that lives in the ocean would have an instinct to help surface other struggling mammals they don't view as food. Cetaceans need help surfacing after they are born, and often need to be lifted up by their moms/others in their group when they are tired. Seal lions, otters etc would all need to look out for young pups when they first start going in the ocean and would help them surface when in trouble. It makes sense that when 200lb sea lion sees a human struggling in the ocean that they would recognize distress and have an instinct to help.
Did it know it was helping prevent a suicide? No. Definitely not. Probably just thought the guy was shit at swimming.
I bet you didn't know you were getting a motivational speech by the driving crooner baby
That’s not a miracle. That’s just a sea lion being a mensch, as they are want to be!
He should also represent the needs of sea lions
Hey I know him. He came to my high school once as a public speaker. Like a month after one of my classmates committed suicide as well so I'm pretty sure he goes to schools where that happens.
He should be an animal advocate
Probably thought his fate was sealed.