Virginia
Why a 6-year-old with diabetes is pushing for change in Virginia – WTOP News
First grader Ruston Revell is pressing Virginia lawmakers to pass a bill that he argues will make schools safer for kids with diabetes.
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Why a 6-year-old with diabetes is pushing for change in Virginia
Speaking in front of Virginia lawmakers, 6-year-old Ruston Revell needs a wooden stool to reach the microphone for his testimony about diabetes.
Dressed in his blue suit and red tie, he’s there on a mission.
“Living with diabetes isn’t easy, there are lots of ups and downs — just like my blood sugar,” Ruston told legislators in the Virginia General Assembly.
The legislation that brought Ruston from Prince William County to Richmond would update an existing law to specify how Virginia schools handle accommodations for students with diabetes.
“When I’m at school, my nurse and all my teachers help me when I need it, but not all kids like me are that lucky,” Ruston told WTOP. “These bills change that, so kids with diabetes can be safer in schools.”
He’s testified before committees in both chambers as corresponding bills move through the Virginia General Assembly. HB1301 and SB122 have both earned support in their respective chamber.
“Although, I’m small, my voice is big and it can change the world,” Ruston said.
In his testimony, the first grader clearly explained the care he requires to manage his Type 1 diabetes during the school day.
“He just pops up on his little stool and takes control of the room,” said Kelly Revell, Ruston’s mom. “It’s usually a little quiet, and after he finishes, he gets a whole room full of applause.”
Today, Ruston enjoys playing baseball, swimming and spending time at the playground.
But things were different before his diagnosis five years ago.
A life-changing diagnosis at 15 months old
During the summer of 2020, Kelly said her son started showing signs of diabetes, such as extreme thirst — symptoms she recognized because her father had been diagnosed in his 20s.
“He would just lounge around the house and have no interest in playing with his sister,” Kelly said. “He stopped eating, so he was eventually airlifted to Children’s National in D.C., where he was admitted to the pediatric ICU for nearly a week.”
At just 15 months old, Ruston was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Kelly said that news was life-changing.
“Now, in order to keep him alive, we have to hurt him multiple times a day, by giving him four to five shots and even a dozen finger pricks just to make sure his blood sugar is in range,” she recalled.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks cells that make insulin. A lack of insulin can lead to high blood sugar, which could cause serious health issues or be deadly.
“We had to wake up at 2 a.m. every night for six weeks, before we started utilizing technology, just to make sure that he was safe and healthy with his blood sugar,” Kelly said. “A lot of times, it resulted in phone calls to the hospital because he was at a dangerous level, and then we would be up for hours making sure he was back in range.”
For the Revell family, managing Ruston’s diabetes looks different nowadays.
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)
Courtesy Kelly Revell
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)
Courtesy Kelly Revell
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)
Courtesy Kelly Revell
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)
Courtesy Kelly Revell
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)
Courtesy Kelly Revell
How a 6-year-old handles his diabetes
Ruston knows how to prick his finger to check whether his blood sugar is in range.
“My mom and dad help me change my insulin pump every three days, and my CGM every 10 days,” Ruston said, referencing his continuous glucose monitor, known as a CGM.
“It hurts, but at least I don’t have to do shots. They’re the worst.”
Living with diabetes, Ruston needs to calculate the number of carbs he’s getting to determine his insulin dose, which is administered automatically through a pump.
“He is a pro at using a food scale,” Kelly said. “If he wants to eat anything, apple slices, we cut them up, and he puts them on the food scale and determines how many carbs are in that.”
Halfway through his interview with WTOP, Ruston’s phone beeped, flagging his low blood sugar and triggering a quick juice-box break.
That’s the kind of intervention he could require at school.
“When I’m low, Nurse Barnes tells Ms. Grant for me to have a juice box or gummies,” Ruston said, describing a snack to correct his blood sugar.
At his current school, Kelly said Ruston has had all his medical accommodations met since his first day of kindergarten.
“He gets so many hugs. Everyone knows him. He walks into the front office every day to visit the clinic, and they just they really take care of him,” she said.
Things were more complicated before Ruston began kindergarten. Kelly said the family was initially told that the accommodations requested by his doctor would not be allowed.
“What was most difficult at the time was the thought that a kindergartener would be responsible for alerting adults if his phone signaled a low or high blood sugar, rather than having trained staff receive those alerts directly through available technology,” she told WTOP.
The situation was resolved, but it drew Kelly’s attention toward legal protections for kids with diabetes.
What Kelly and Ruston are asking Virginia lawmakers to do
For the past several years, Kelly has been involved with an advocacy group, FOLLOWT1Ds, which argues that unclear or inconsistent school policies can create stress for families and put kids in danger.
“Prince William County has updated their diabetes policies recently, so more students with diabetes across our county are better protected,” Kelly said. “But that’s not happening everywhere in Virginia.”
The bills moving through the Virginia legislature would require school systems to create a divisionwide plan for supporting students with diabetes.
That would include making sure school staff are trained to follow through with a child’s medical orders.
“You really have to put in all of your trust in your school,” Kelly said. “This is a life-threatening disease, and if they forget to give him a juice box when he’s low, that can result in him going to the hospital, or it could be fatal.”
The legislation would also require schools have procedures for administering insulin and glucagon.
Families who have students with diabetes would send schools medical orders from their doctors that outline the child’s needs.
“A lot of times, the schools will either deny or modify these accommodations, even though they’re medically necessary,” Kelly said.
The statewide regulations haven’t been updated since 1999, Kelly said.
“While we’ve had all of these technology advances, like the insulin pump and the CGM, Virginia still hasn’t advanced their laws to align with standard methods of care that we’re using today,” Kelly said.
Ruston doesn’t receive insulin shots anymore. But Virginia law is behind on that front, according to Kelly and other advocates.
“Right now, the policy in Virginia, if his pump were to fall off while at school, they would, instead of reinsert the pump, they would give him a shot,” Kelly said.
In that scenario, Kelly said the school employee would have to calculate how much insulin to dose.
“I wouldn’t even know what to dose him, because with the pump, it’s automated nowadays,” she said. “It would require an immediate call to his doctor for guidance.”
She worries that it could lead to a miscalculation and health complications.
Kelly said the lack of consistency can impact older students, too. She said some high schoolers have gotten in trouble for having their cellphones at schools that ban the devices.
But those phones let students monitor their blood sugar, communicate medical treatments and administer insulin.
It’s the second year in a row that advocates like Kelly have asked legislators in Richmond to approve revisions to state law.
This time, Ruston is joining the push for change by sharing his story with lawmakers.
“I want to make sure other kids in different schools can have more help with diabetes,” Ruston told WTOP.
Anyone interested in following the legislation or submitting a comment to lawmakers can find more information on FOLLOW T1Ds’ website.
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ARLINGTON, Va. (7News) — After months of television ads, mailings, and debates, Virginia voters head to the polls Tuesday to vote on whether to approve a redistricting measure that would radically change Congressional maps in order to favor Democrats.
The measure has the potential to determine which party controls Congress after the midterm elections this fall.
ALSO READ | Virginia redistricting vote draws national attention
Virginia polling locations will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The election is unusual in that there are no names of candidates on the ballot. Instead, there is just one question to vote yes or no on:
“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”
A yes vote would likely lead to a new map that would be expected to give Democrats a 10 to one edge in Virginia’s Congressional delegation. Under the current map, Democrats have six seats and Republicans have five.
Supporters of voting yes said the measure is in response to states like Texas that have gerrymandered in favor of Republicans winning House seats. But opponents who urge a no vote point out the measure would make Virginia one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation, and would create districts in which many voters don’t share common interests with each other.
The vote is expected to be close.
“It seems to me that a strong turnout effort on election day can give either side a win,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. “The big challenge for both the yes and the no side is to get people who will support them if they turn out to actually do soI think anybody who is not strongly committed one side or the other is likely to stay home.”
ALSO READ | Virginia voters to decide redistricting that could flip 4 GOP seats
Advertisements and messaging from both sides have left some voters confused. For example, both supporters and opponents of the measure have referenced Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger. She supports the measure to counterbalance Republican actions elsewhere, but in the past she has made strong statements against the type of gerrymandering the ballot measure would allow.
“Usually when people are confused, they don’t vote. Some of them do, but most of them don’t,” said Larry Sabato, the director of The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Sabato said it’s tough to predict which side will win. Even though the limited polling that’s been done has given a narrow edge to the yes vote, data related to early voting may tell a different story.
“Normally, you would think given Virginia’s pretty strong Democratic lean, that this very partisan referendum would be enough to generate Democratic turnout for Democrats to win,” he said. “But I’ll tell you why people are hesitant – they’ve seen large turnouts in conservative, Republican areas. Because [voters in those areas] are mad. Their representatives are being eliminated through this process.”
“This is going to be tied very closely to how one feels about President Trump,” Farnsworth said. “The people who don’t like President Trump will vote in favor of this amendment. The people who do like President Trump will vote against it.”
It’s not clear how many people will actually show up at the polls on election day Tuesday.
“People who were very interested in this, who were knowledgeable about the subject, probably voted early for the most part,” Sabato said.
Mail-in ballots can still be dropped off at official drop boxes until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, and if they are mailed they need to be postmarked by Tuesday and received by noon on Friday.
WASHINGTON — Virginia Senator Mark Warner and Lisa Collis are mourning the loss of their daughter Madison.
The 36-year-old died after a “decades-long battle with juvenile diabetes,” the couple said in a statement
“We are heartbroken beyond words by the passing of our beloved daughter,” the statement read. “She filled our lives with love and laughter, and her absence leaves an immeasurable void.”
Warner and Collis said they were are grateful for the loving support of friends and family and asked for privacy as they grieve.
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Virginians are heading to the polls to vote “yes” or “no” on a ballot initiative in a high-stakes special election that could upend this year’s midterm elections.
Voters on Tuesday will decide if they want to move forward with Democrats’ redistricting plan which would significantly change the state’s congressional map, giving Democrats a 10-1 advantage instead of the current 6-5 Democratic to Republican split.
Virginia is one of many states that took a look at their congressional maps this year after President Donald Trump encouraged Republican-led states to redraw their maps ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Both parties in Virginia are pushing get out the vote efforts as early voting lags behind previous years and a huge amount of cash is flowing into the mid-decade redistricting effort.
Here’s what to know:
Democrats try to eliminate several GOP seats
In February, Virginia Democrats finalized an agreement over how to redraw the state’s congressional map. It would lead to eight safely Democratic districts, two districts that lean Democratic and one safe Republican district.
As it currently stands, Virginia has six Democrats and five Republicans in the House.
The amendment passed by Democrats in February would temporarily bypass the state’s typical redistricting process. If voters approve the amendment through the referendum on April 21, Democrats would be able to move forward with their map.
The amendment would put in place a temporary process. After the 2030 census, the state’s standard redistricting process would resume with maps to be decided by a bipartisan commission.
The lead-up to the election has seen an influx of spending, and The Washington Post noted that due to state election records, 95% of the total $93 million raised as of Monday came from nonprofit groups that are not required to disclose their donors.
The leading group, Virginians for Fair Elections, reported raising $64 million in favor of the referendum. About $40 million of that came from House Majority Forward, which is led by House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the Post reported using data from tracking firm AdImpact. The Fairness Project added $11.7 million to the effort. It’s backed by new Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Virginians for Fair Elections secured a television advertisement for voting “yes” on the ballot initiative featuring former President Barack Obama. He said voting the measure through was the “responsible” thing to do.
The group that wants Virginians to vote “no” on the measure is made up of several smaller groups, including Virginians for Fair Maps. That group took in $22 million and another $7 million was raised by Justice for Democracy PAC, an anti-redistricting group, Cardinal News, a southern Virginia outlet, reported.
According to Cardinal News, the $7 million donation to the PAC was given by a nonprofit, which didn’t have to disclose its donors. However, that same nonprofit was used by billionaire Peter Thiel in support of Vice President JD Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign.
Even if Virginians pass the measure, the process putting in place the new map is still under judicial review, with the state Supreme Court hearing a challenge later this month.
The Deseret News has reached out to both Virginians for Fair Maps and the Fairness Project for comment.
How did we get here?
Trump kick-started the redistricting battle last year with the Texas Republican congressional delegation and told them the state should seek five new seats that the Republican Party could win through redistricting.
It was a sign that Trump was looking to not have a repeat of his first presidency, when Democrats flipped the House two years into his term.
In response, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared “game on” and instructed the California state Legislature to redraw the state’s maps to find five additional seats for the Democrats.
Californians overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50 in a special election last year.
Missouri followed, calling a special session to redraw its state map, looking to gain one GOP seat. North Carolina was next, announcing new plans for a redistricting session last October.
Several other states have joined the nationwide fight, wotj varying outcomes, including Ohio, New York, Maryland, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas.
What does it mean?
Historically, the party that controls the White House almost always loses ground with voters in the midterm elections. In the last 20 out of 22 midterms dating back to 1938, the president’s party has lost ground in the House; the only exceptions were due to unusual circumstances like the 9/11 terror attacks and former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment.
Upon returning to the White House, Trump has had the benefit of a slim Republican majority in both the House and Senate. In the House, there are currently 217 Republicans, 213 Democrats, one independent that caucuses with the GOP and four vacancies.
While the GOP looks to gain about 15 new seats through redistricting, Democrats may come out on top. According to RealClearPolitics’ polling averages for generic 2026 congressional voting, Democrats have a 5.6 percentage point advantage, up 2.9 percentage points from last October.
It’s a trend that may change over the next several months, particularly as the Trump administration aims to make its case with voters that the Iran war was necessary and consumers see gas prices stabilize.
However, it is something that has Republicans concerned. They’ve shown enough concern that Democrats could flip the House and even the Senate — where the GOP has a 53-45 majority — that they are preparing for a Supreme Court justice retirement in the coming months. They know that if Democrats control the upper chamber and a retirement happens, there’s no way one of Trump’s appointees would be voted through.
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