A man who survived a suicide leap from the Golden Gate Bridge has told in detail how he was saved by a sea lion which kept him afloat until the coastguard arrived . Kevin Hines is now a global speaker on mental health issues and shared his remarkable story at a suicide prevention conference in New South Wales , Australia . Aged just 21 , he was suffering from bipolar disorder and psychosis when he jumped from the San Francisco landmark on a chilly September day in 2000 . Scroll down for video . Emotional : Mental health campaigner Kevin Hines told a conference yesterday how he survived a suicide attempt nearly 15 years ago - because a sea lion circled under him and kept him afloat until help arrived . Although he lived , Mr Hines almost lost his ability to walk and was saved only by 14 hours of surgery on his back . But immediately after the four-second fall there was another , more incredible miracle . He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation : ' I guess you would call it a mammal began swimming beneath me and I 'm thinking , `` Oh man , a shark is about to devour me '' . ' I was on a show for suicide prevention and I mentioned that I thought there was this shark on this show and a man wrote into the show and he said , `` Kevin , I 'm so very glad you 're alive , I was less than two feet away from you when you jumped '' . 'He said : `` It haunted me until this day ; it was no shark , it was a sea lion and the people above looking down believed it to be keeping you afloat until the coast guard brought a ride behind you . '' ' Landmark : By a stroke of luck , a witness saw Mr Hines jump from the vast bridge and alerted the coastguard . Conference : Mr Hines spoke at the New South Wales Police Force Mental Health Intervention Team conference in Sydney , Australia . The force attended nearly 50,000 mental health incidents last year . With temperatures in the bay 's waters as low as 12C , Mr Hines could have died of hypothermia had a witness not seen him jump and raised the alarm . Mr Hines said he never intended to tell his story because he was 'embarrassed ' , but changed his mind after a life-affirming talk to 120 students , many of whom had suicidal thoughts . Now he has written a book about his experience , Cracked , Not Broken , and appears at conferences all over the world . With medication and professional help he has managed to reduce his symptoms , including the voices in his head which told him to jump on that day 14 and a half years ago . 'The message is very very simple , ' he told ABC . 'You do n't have to die this way . ' Mr Hines says he is one of just 34 survivors of falls from the Golden Gate Bridge , which rises high above the San Francisco Bay , and the only one to become a mental health campaigner . Population : Sea lions basking on piers in San Francisco . Mr Hines said the theory was perfectly plausible . He spoke yesterday as part of the NSW Police Force Mental Health Intervention Team conference in Sydney . The force attended almost 50,000 mental health incidents in 2014 alone , and set up to conference to discuss how the often-misunderstood issue should be tackled . Mr Hines had talked about being saved by a sea lion before , including in a 2013 blog post . 'There are a large number of reporters and speculators who have claimed it was really a seal , and even those who have claimed that there was nothing but me in that water , ' he wrote . 'However , I know that it was a sea lion and it is not a statistic anomaly . Marine animals ( dolphins , sea lions ) and other creatures have helped save humans and other animals from dangerous situations all over the world . ' I say believe it or don ’ t , that ’ s completely up to you . I know the truth , and in this case and that is all that matters . ' For confidential support contact Lifeline on 131 114 ( Australia ) , the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1800 273 8255 ( US ) , or Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 ( UK ) .
Kevin Hines broke into San ##ster Bay in 2000 after hearing voices . Now a mental health speaker , he shared stories at Australian conference . He had thought he was a shark until he heard him speak on TV . Witness said it was sea lion - which circled below him , keeping him afloat .