On May 13, 1999, David Bagley was admitted to the hospital on his 22nd birthday.

His symptoms were flu-like, mom Debra Bagley said, but doctors initially didn’t know what was wrong.

Exploratory surgery showed most of her son’s pancreas needed to be removed, Bagley said. Doctors were able to save about a quarter of the organ.

David Bagley was given a 60-percent chance of survival. Then, a short time later, a neurologist confirmed a blood clot had reached his brain stem.

“They told us the law in Virginia was we couldn’t keep him alive on machines,” Bagley said. “We said our goodbyes.”

About 20 ears earlier, as a 2-year-old, David Bagley had surgery to correct a heart defect he was born with. “He was born with different issues,” Debra Bagley said.

“We got brave one day and asked an ENT doctor if our son was going to be limited. He was 1 ½ or 2. He was the only one brave enough to say he would have a limited IQ.”

David Bagley began receiving special education services from Suffolk Public Schools since age 2, and remained with the district about 20 years, Bagley said.  He attended prom as a Nansemond River High School student.

This year, Debra Bagley retired after almost 20 years with Suffolk Public Schools coordinating the special education Parent Resource Center.

The center was created in 1994, when David Bagley was 16. Bagley explained that her son’s teachers at Nansemond River had nudged in the direction of joining it.

“We got all the forms, (and) I said, ‘I’d love to do this,’” she said.

The center, located in a mobile unit at Elephant’s Fork Elementary School, helps educate parents and sometimes teachers, Bagley explained.

Parents can talk out any issues they’re experiencing, and Bagley said she often presented their concerns to the teacher or a school administrator.

“I had workshops in special education,” she said. “I tried to reach every category, whether it be autism or learning disability.

“I tried to draw parents together, so they could realize they are not alone in this world by themselves. We learned from each other.”

The school district this year has also lost Louis Bagley, Debra Bagley’s husband, who had served on the Special Education Advisory Committee since 1997.

“My wife really wanted me involved in it,” Louis Bagley said. “To me, it made sense in regards to David. ‘How could I best advocate for David?’ It gave me an opportunity to do that.”

Services to special education have suffered since the recession. Included in the cuts have been staff that help students transition into the workforce.

Debra Bagley said she was the special education Parent Resource Center’s only staff member for the past eight or so years, and about three years ago her hours were reduced from 32 to 22 a week.

Money is at the root of many of the greatest contentions between parents of special needs students and the district, Louis Bagley said. For instance, requests for classrooms aides, technology or therapy require funding.

Debra Bagley said she and her husband will remain involved in advocating for special education students and parents. “We will probably show up to SEAC (Special Education Advisory Committee) meetings here and there,” she said.

The School Board honored the Bagleys during its meeting this month. “Most of all, she lent an understanding ear,” Antoine Hickman, the district’s director of special education, said of Debra Bagley’s contribution.

Bagley said it had been a dream job. “I’m going to go outside here and have me a good cry after this,” she added.