Our History

Meet the founder

Glucose Revival was founded by Kris Maynard after being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. 

Being Diagnosed

When Kris was only three years into his military career, his life was drastically changed when he received the news that he had been diagnosed with Diabetes. At only 23 years old, this diagnosis forced him out of the military, immediately ending his dreams of a career in the Navy. With this diagnosis, Kris had to find a new career path and learn to cope with his new life of battling his own blood sugar levels.

Kris then decided that his next step would be to become a Firefighter/EMT. “The EMT classes that I took taught me the basics about diabetes, but my actual learning came through life’s lessons. The doctor who diagnosed me with diabetes told me that it was better to have lower blood sugars because of the long-term damage that high blood sugar cause to the major organs. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, amputations, heart attacks, and strokes.”

Low Blood Sugar caused Job Loss 

The day he will never forget – Working at a fire station, one never knows when one will be called upon to help. This particular time just so happened to be around midnight, while in a deep sleep.

We were awoken to lights and tones being dispatched to automatic fire alarms. I remember walking like a zombie and climbing up into the driver’s seat and freezing. My captain was yelling, “Let’s go, let’s go,” but I didn't respond. My captain asked if I was OK. Quickly I figured out, with the help of others, that my blood sugar was low. Someone else took my spot in the driver’s seat.

I was left behind and forced to sit down while they tested my blood sugar, which was only 46. I was immediately given glucose gel. Within 5 minutes my blood sugar was back to 86.

I went back to my room plagued with worry on how I had let this happen, and worried what consequences would transpire.

The next morning, I was informed that I was too much of a liability. Remaining on the team was impossible as I would be jeopardizing others. Not only was I putting other firefighters at risk, but I would also be placing all of the people in the community at risk as I could not guarantee the prevention of another low blood sugar episode from ever happening again.

This is when I started taking diabetes seriously. It was now affecting my family and our livelihood. My Endocrinologist and I decided that it was best to get started on an insulin pump and controlled glucose monitoring (CGM). I then started testing different diets in an attempt to ensure that I could prevent another hypoglycemic episode from happening.

Weeks, months, and years went by as I fought to get back the job that I loved so much. A fight that was well worth the battle as I still hold it to this day! 

Another Episode

On a camping trip with my two boys, after we finished our marshmallow roast and went to bed the next thing I knew, an ambulance crew was rubbing glucose gel in my mouth. My blood sugar dropped again and I started convulsing. My son gave me glucagon, but I didn’t respond so he called 911 and waited 25 minutes for their arrival. The 1st thing the ambulance crew did was - administer glucose gel to my gums. They waited around for a few minutes to ensure I was ok, watching me eat and drink to get more carbohydrates within me and they cleared me from not having to be transported to the hospital. I wondered for the next few hours how I let this happen. My son asked, “why don’t we have glucose gel.”

The next day, I took some straws and heated them together, added a Medical Alert badge to it, and filled the straws with glucose gel. Now I had a wearable form of treatment for my next low blood sugar event.

Thrive Glucose is Born

At my next endocrinologist appointment she noticed my necklace and asked what I was wearing with an odd look on her face. I explained my quick fix, and she said, “What a simple solution to an all too common problem; you need to make this available to everyone.”

This was the birth of the Glucose Revival - Thrive Glucose Medical Alert Necklace.

The Thrive Glucose necklace is discreet, carries 15g of glucose gel, and is immediately available to the person who needs it and/or for those who may be around to help. This provides the quickest way for those who suffer with low blood sugars, to have what EMT’s use and not have to wait for them.