When Ooltewah hosts District 5-AAA opponent Soddy-Daisy in its "Pink Out" high school volleyball match for breast cancer awareness tonight, it will mean a little more for one Lady Owls player.
Senior Sidney Killingsworth's mother, Amy, was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2015. Although in the past year and a half Amy has been through some rough stretches, with complications arising, she's not only feeling well enough now to attend the match, she's been heavily involved in helping put on the event.
"She wanted to be in charge of the 'Pink Out' last year," said Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen, who is a breast cancer survivor.
Amy underwent surgery April 9, 2015. In June she watched Sidney, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter and middle blocker, compete in a national tournament in Orlando, Fla. The family had planned to go to the beach in Panama City afterward.
Her immune system weakened by all the chemotherapy treatments, Amy felt a fever coming on. As a planned part of the trip she had already gone to an outpatient laboratory in Orlando for blood work.
After hearing from the lab that her white blood cell count wasn't good, Amy had the family stop in Ocala, where she checked into a hospital. That's where the vacation ended up being spent. More recently she battled a staph infection that developed after reconstructive breast surgery.
It's been a lot for a teenager like Sidney to go through. She also has a younger sister, Baylee, who is in seventh grade at Silverdale Baptist Academy.
"I always thought if I was to lose her, she would be with me anyway," Sidney said of her mother. "That's the type person she is. She has three girls. We're all pretty close with her."
Amy's oldest daughter is Morgan, a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Morgan has received scholarship money from the Mary Ellen Locher Foundation scholarship fund, which is the Pink Out's beneficiary.
The Locher fund was created to provide financial assistance with college tuition to local students who have had a parent stricken with breast cancer. Proceeds from tonight's gate will be added to the $814 raised the past two days through sales of dress-down passes at school, donations and sales of cupcakes Amy provided.
Perhaps more than any other prep sport in the Chattanooga area, volleyball has been at the forefront when it comes to raising money and awareness in the battle against breast cancer. Ooltewah has hosted a "Pink Out" match every year starting in 2007.
Sidney said she's grateful for being part of a program that takes seriously helping families affected by breast cancer, and for having someone like Peigen to help counsel her.
"She's helped me through a lot of it," Sidney said. "She's gone to the hospital to check on mom. She's shared her experiences with it. She's always been that helping hand."
The warmup shirts the Lady Owls have worn at previous "Pink Out" games and will wear again tonight were designed by Taylor Flynn (nee Gatewood), an Ooltewah player in the program's first "Pink Out" match and now an assistant coach for the Lady Owls. This year "Team Killingsworth" has been added to the shirts.
Amy lost a good friend, Lisa Shields, to breast cancer on May 11, 2013. She said not only has getting involved with Ooltewah's fund-raiser been therapeutic for her, but also a way of honoring her friend.
"Ooltewah has been unbelievably supportive," Amy said. "The people have been willing to give food, money, whatever we've needed. Not just Ooltewah, but it's been amazing at the amount of love and support that the community has provided. I'm very grateful about that. I hope I have the opportunity to return the favor."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.