After 21 years as a school nurse, you think you’ve seen it all until a diabetic student suffers from a severe hypoglycemic episode and you have to choose between what is morally right and what is legally right.

That was my reality in 2018. The treatment was within reach, but medication — glucagon — belonged to a different student. Despite it not being legal to administer another student’s medication, I did what I knew I had to: save this student’s life.

The school replaced the used glucagon, but I feared losing my RN license / job, or worse, this happening again to another. If we can have school-provided inhalers and Epipens, why can’t we have school-provided glucagon?

When then-state Rep. Mike Halpin heard my story, he took action to protect the lives of students and jobs of school nurses across the state of Illinois. Mike stepped up and championed House Bill 822, which provides that schools may maintain a supply of undesignated glucagon.

He proved he doesn’t just represent our community, he listens to our community’s needs. He isn’t just another politician who makes claims and doesn’t follow through. He does the right thing and leads by example.

Through his unwavering support of helping and prioritizing our students, he gained my full support to be our next state senator. The Nov. 8 election is coming up! We need Mike Halpin to represent us in Springfield — because Mike Halpin cares.