Angilique Falcon

At 28 years old, a young man decided to walk 25 miles in a single day. Not for exercise. He was walking the length of his district, stopping along the way to talk to people and hear what was happening in their lives. By the time he was halfway through, something was very wrong. He was exhausted, nauseated and vomiting. But he kept walking. He finished the 25 miles and went home. Then he slept for 36 hours. His parents, alarmed by this, took him to the emergency room where they found out his blood sugar was 900. The young man had undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes and was in diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition that can lead to coma and death without treatment. He was then rushed to the ICU. But thankfully, that young man survived, and story doesn’t end there. Once he was able to leave the hospital, he needed regular insulin to stay alive. His first 30-day supply cost $684. Young men his age don’t carry that kind of money. So he put it on a credit card. And that experience changed the direction of James Talarico’s young life. Since then, James has been fighting for people who need insulin and other lifesaving medications in order to live, and pushing for legislation to make those drugs more affordable. Working for the people, not Big Pharma. James Talarico is who Texas needs.