Some of the best stories at the Rhode Island State House come from people who would rather not be there.

I’m betting, for example, that Stephen Hunt could think of maybe four or five things he’d rather be doing on a cold, wet April afternoon than sitting in the Senate lounge waiting for the Health and Human Services Committee to get serious. Playing some basketball maybe, watching the Red Sox, practicing his guitar.

But he was there on Wednesday, as he has been in years past, because it’s important. It’s about as important as it gets. His life could be at stake.

“I think that the bill should be passed right now,” he said. “If nurses aren’t there, then no one else can do it for me.”

He is 15, lives in Charlestown, is a student at the Prout School and a diabetic. He was diagnosed when he was 8.

“My mother told me. I didn’t know what it was at first. She was kind of freaked out about it. They told me I had a disease.”

In the seven years since, he has gotten on with being a young kid, then a teenager. He says he has been able to do pretty much what he wants to do.

But he takes insulin and tests his blood six times a day.

“It’s just the hassle of diabetes,” he says. “I test my blood and everything, figure out how to track my numbers.”

And everywhere he goes he carries Glucagon. It’s the drug for emergencies, for the possibility that he will lose consciousness from low blood sugar.

It’s also the reason he was at the State House. He and his mother, Sue, other families of diabetics and the American Diabetes Association want the State of Rhode Island to make it possible for trained volunteers to administer the drug in schools if a nurse is not available.

So pass the bill that makes it happen, right? It’s a matter of safety and reducing risk. It’s a matter of common sense. Eleven other states have already passed such legislation and some states allow the procedure without specific legislation. According to Dr. Gregory Fox, a pediatric endocrinologist, passing the bill to allow volunteers to administer the drug is a “no brainer.”

“It’s a relatively simple treatment,” said Fox, who was also at the State House to testify on Wednesday.

“It’s a very, very safe drug.”

But as anyone who has spent any time in State House knows, things that appear “no-brainers” can be hauled into the building looking absolutely unassailable and come out all beat to hell — and not passed into law.

Which partially explains why Sue Hunt and her son were there for their fourth annual appearance last week. What they consider vitally important and something that adds another layer of safety to the school day has never made it out of committee at the State House. Teachers and school nurses have opposed it on the grounds that a professional should administer the medicine.

So mother and son testified, again. And the committee voted to put it off for further study.

“That’s what always happen,” said Sue Hunt. “Then it dies in committee.”

They are waiting to learn when the bill will be heard by the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee. It will mean more testimony.

Hunt is an occupational therapist. She says she has received some attractive job offers recently, but she has chosen to stay where she is because it is close to her son’s school. It is part of the accommodation of diabetes.

“It turns your world upside down,” she said. “It changes your whole family’s life.”

She can appreciate why some people are apprehensive about administering Glucagon. It is a little more complicated than using an epi pen to inject epinephrine in the case of severe allergic reactions. That is a procedure non-professionals are allowed to conduct in schools.

Administering Glucagon requires combining a powder and saline solution and giving an injection. But Hunt and Dr. Fox point out that it is a very easy thing to teach people how to do.

Now, a nurse has to administer the drug in a school, but Hunt points out that a nurse is simply not at the school all the time, and school events such as field trips make the presence of a medical professional even less likely.

A month ago, she had to administer Glucagon to her son for the first time since his diagnosis. She says she gave him the shot, waited for 911 and prayed. Later, in the hospital, Stephen told her he thought he was going to die.

This is nuts. And it’s dangerous. Making it possible for non-professionals to administer this drug in schools makes life safer for young diabetics and sends some real peace of mind home to their families.

When risk for children can be reduced, why not reduce it?

bkerr@projo.com