Second Chances

BY CAROLYN DRINKARD

Growing up in Sunny South, Alabama, Lori Williams Bagley loved animals. She always had dogs and cats as pets, but after she married Clint Bagley and moved to a farm in the Sandflat Community, suddenly, she had even more pets, such as cows, horses, sheep, goats and chickens. She loved her farm life, especially taking care of her many animals.

In 2008, Lori Bagley was on top of the world. Happily married with two wonderful children (ages 12 and 10), she had just landed her dream job in environmental management. Lori was the picture of health, running three miles each day and enjoying life to the fullest.

One day after her daily run, she felt something like a “crick” in her neck. In severe pain, she went to a doctor, who treated her for a sinus infection. As the pain increased, however, Clint took her on to the emergency room at Springhill Hospital in Mobile.

“I thought I had a brain tumor,” she explained, “but the doctors there said it was a migraine. They gave me a shot and an order to get an MRI. I took their meds, but they didn’t touch the pain.”

At work Monday, Nov. 10, a friend suggested she visit a chiropractor to help her pain, so after getting the MRI at Thomasville Hospital, she visited Dr. Jerry Schreiner, a local chiropractor. While in Schreiner’s office, Lori suffered a stroke. Dr. Schreiner immediately picked her up and rushed her to the hospital in his own truck, calling Dr. Frank Dozier to meet him in the ER. Since Lori had just left the hospital, her records were still up, so Dr. Dozier quickly administered the clot-buster shot that ultimately saved her life.

Today, Lori is convinced that a Higher Hand was guiding all of these events. “If I had not been in Dr. Schreiner’s office when that blood clot moved, I would not have made it,” she said. “God placed Dr. Schreiner and Dr. Dozier right there.”

She also sees another miraculous act in her survival. “God also placed my MeMaw (Sherry Bagley, who worked at the hospital), at my side. I could hear her praying out loud, calling my name and asking God to heal me! She calmed me, and her prayers gave me a peace that I cannot describe.”

Lori’s doctors kept her in Thomasville Hospital, because they did not expect her to make it through the night. The next morning, she was transported to Springhill Medical Center in Mobile, where neurologists discovered that the stroke had been in her brain stem. Her body’s involuntary functions like breathing and heartbeat had been affected, leaving her unable to speak, swallow or walk.

“My neurologists told me that it is rare for any person that has a stroke in the brain stem to survive,” she added.

Lori spent 17 days in the hospital before returning home to learn a new way of life. Not only family and friends, but also complete strangers stepped in to help.

Since Lori now needed full time care herself, the Bagleys sold their beloved farm animals. Determined to get her life back, however, Lori began her arduous journey to recovery. She learned to walk, talk and drive again. She still struggles with many lingering after-effects, but she lives each day with an attitude of gratitude, because she knows she has been given a second chance.

In 2018, Clint surprised Lori with her own small flock of Katahdin sheep. Even with her balance problems, Lori felt she could move around and take care of these six animals. She named each one and cared for the gentle, loving creatures, who returned her affection.

“I enjoyed watching and spending time with them,” she explained. “I had to earn their trust but working with my sheep helped me. It was therapeutic. Anything I could do physically helped me to hold on to what I had gotten back!”

Occasionally, a mother ewe died or rejected a lamb, so Lori stepped in and bottle-fed the baby, giving the small creature a second chance at life. Word spread quickly among sheep owners that Lori Bagley “fostered” baby lambs. In very little time, Lori was recognized throughout Southwest Alabama as a “bottle mama” who would save orphaned lambs!

“This wasn’t something I was planning to do,” she laughed. “It just happened! Nobody wants to see one of their own die.”

Bottle-feeding a baby lamb is not easy, however, and often, Clint had to help. Just like human babies, young lambs must be fed on a schedule, at least four times a day, for about three weeks. Once the baby started to eat, Lori fed two bottles a day, watching carefully not to overfeed, as this might kill the lamb. The tiny creatures did well and seemed to thrive under Lori’s gentle care.

“Bottle-feeding is very satisfying,” she said. “When they learn I am the source of their food, they recognize me and run to me, thinking I have food. I like to see them graduate from the bottle to real food, because I feel like I’ve helped them in the absence of their mothers. It’s just very rewarding!”

Even though her pastoral life is immensely satisfying, she has discovered one small drawback: She wants to keep every lamb she fosters!

“I can never name a lamb, or I won’t sell it,” she laughed. “I get so close to them that I want to keep every one that comes here, which isn’t possible.”

Becoming a “foster mother” has proved to be an unforeseen blessing for Lori Bagley. Giving these baby lambs a second chance to live has, in turn, helped her!

“In 2008, I thought my life was over,” she explained. “Little did I know that God was just giving me a second chance.”

Check out Lori’s e-commerce sheep business on Facebook at Sandflat Cattle & Farm.

When her husband, Clint, brought this baby calf home, Lori stepped in to feed her. She named her Neely, and Neely is at home on the Bagley farm.

At first, Lori Bagley must coax baby lambs to take their bottles. She uses a special nipple that fits their mouths better. After they learn, they run to her eagerly.

Lori and Clint Bagley live and work on Sandflat Cattle and Farm. After Lori suffered a stroke in 2008, they had to sell their farm animals. In 2018, Clint bought home six Katahdin sheep for Lori, giving her a new purpose in life.

Bottle-feeding baby lambs is not easy. Just like human babies, young lambs must be fed on a schedule, at least four times a day, for about three weeks. When they start solid food, Lori Bagley then gives them two bottles a day.