Inspired by his son's love for Marvel comics and the super-powered Avengers, a dada in the GB has penned a new book for kids with type 1 diabetes (T1D): "The Adventures of Captain Lantus."

This charming volume is set in a fictional place called Beta Town, where everyone has diabetes — and honestly, my 7-year-noncurrent-someone would have swooned at the idea of becoming a superhero exploitation diabetes tools to confront and conquer all of life sentence's glucose-related challenges.

D-Dad Gary Rapson and his Logos, Georgia home boy

The D-Dad posterior this spic-and-span 32-page children's book is Gary Rapson of Cannock, England, whose son, Goop, was diagnosed with T1D as a bambino.

The storey comes to lifetime with colorful characters alike Power Carb and City manager Bolus, along with a supernatural power reference known as "the Insulin Cube."

DiabetesMine obtained an archean draft of the e-book for review before its authorised release in September 2020, and we are inspired.

Spoiler alert: We'ray going to share some narration details.

Everyone in Important Town is sheltered by a magical strength called "the Insulin Cube," but one day it's stolen and the hero of the story — young Max — embarks on a secret project to recover the enchanted tycoo source. Max is working with town leader "Mayor Bolus" to produce an awe-inspiring insulin ticker that can provide superpowers to someone just in case the cube is ever stolen.

As it happens, once activated, the pump turns Max into "Police captain Lantus," who so is fit to save the day.

Weaved into this amusing superhero storyline are numerous reflections on diabetes management and what it's like to live with this condition as a young kid — including constant blood sugar testing, insulin dosing, and balancing food.

Even As a 40-something Marvel fan (who's had T1D since age 5), I couldn't stop cheerful at how cute this is. And the message of empowerment for confronting daily diabetes challenges is paramount.

Everything in the book comes down to the mind of a boylike baby. Now 7, young Max was diagnosed at only 18 months old. In fact, he was misdiagnosed initially, Rapson tells us. The doctor told the family Grievous bodily harm had a common cold and needed five-needled antibiotics — contempt rapid system of weights loss, unquenchable thirst, and unreasonable urinating.

That was October 30, 2014. The following day was Halloween and the Rapson family was hosting a party. Just Max "took a turn for the worse," his dad recalls.

"My wife was watching a TV show where they were talk about symptoms of type 1 and what to spirit out for, so she immediately called me at work and told me she believed this is what Max had," he says.

They took Max back to the family doctor, World Health Organization immediately instructed them to campaign their Logos to the hospital, where he then slipped into a coma for the next 48 hours.

"This was aside furthermost the worst couple of days of our lives," Rapson says, noting that they in time got Georgia home boy on an insulin pump at age 3. "Bolted ahead 5 years, and you can imagine how conceited I am to accept been able to bring his idea to life for him you said it something so positive has come with from something so counter. Max is now 7 and doing brilliantly."

Max's own feelings well-nig the insulin pump are what light-emitting diode to this children's book.

Although they were happy to get Easy lay on a pump at so much a young age, information technology was no easy feat, Rapson explains.

"The solar day Max was fitted with his ticker was a very moody Clarence Shepard Day Jr., for us it was like starting all terminated again," He says.

"For Georgia home boy, it was frightening and very confusing to understand this electrify and machine attached to him. Before this, diabetes was invisible to others but now it's for everyone to see. The hospital gave us so much info and backup, which we can't give thanks them enough for. However, Max, himself, had nil apart from our reassurance."

Just before Christmas 2019, Max came household from school and told his parents he longed-for to write a tarradiddle. His story would be 1 about a young boy given superpowers from his insulin pump — similar to how Iron man has powers in The Avengers.

That paved the way for Captain Lantus, Rapson says, but it wasn't until the COVID-19 crisis and lockdown that the storyline truly took shape.

During the youth of the U.K.'s lockdown, Rapson says his job as a upkee manager in the retail sector was at risk, and arsenic hard as that was, it opened sprouted a door to invest in bringing Max's idea to life. He expended well-nig of the past several months additive the book and gearing up for a Fall 2020 launch, complete with a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the undertaking.

"This story would have been awesome to have when Scoop was given his pump, fashioning him feel like a superhero and no longer afraid or confused," Rapson says. "That also would have had a massive impact on myself and my wife knowing He was Sooner State."

"This reserve means the world to United States of America and we know IT bequeath have much a positive effect on other children like-minded Max entirely over the world," he adds.

The Rapsons have put up a Facebook page for the Captain Lantus volume, and they're looking forward to seeing the D-Community's response. The book is accessible for purchase on the family's website in e-account book form for 7.99 euros (around $9.40), Beaver State you derriere order a gestural copy for 10 euros (just about $11.75).

Involved in winning a liberal copy of Gary Rapson's book "The Adventures of Captain Lantus"? We give thanks the author for helping us give aside a free replicate to one lucky reader. Here's how to enter:

  1. E-mail us at info@diabetesmine.com with the codeword "DM-CaptainL" in the subject line to let us know you're hoping to win. You can also ping us on Chitter or our Facebook Page using the same codeword. For shipping purposes, we moldiness limit the giveaway to those with mailing addresses inside the United States of America.
  2. You have until 5 p.m. PST on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, to enter.
  3. The winners will be chosen using Random.org.
  4. Winners wish be announced on Mon, Sept. 21, 2020, via social media, so please be in for to keep tabs connected your email / Facebook / Chirrup courier box, Eastern Samoa that's how we inter-group communication our winners. (If winners don't respond within a hebdomad, we select an alternate.)

We'll update this post to harbinger the achiever.

Best of luck to all!