For Kelsey Langworthy, it was an experience like nothing she had ever faced.

Like other young athletes on one of the fields at Peachtree City's Baseball/Soccer Complex last autumn, Kelsey was doing sprints when she felt her chest getting heavy. The experience was new to this athletic ninth-grader, never having asthma or any breathing-related problems prior to that time.

"At the end of practice I was feeling light-headed and dizzy," Kelsey explained. "After I got home and took a shower I felt like my whole body was going to collapse. I couldn't breathe. I was having a hard time standing and I was having a lot of pain in my stomach and in my chest."

A visiting friend summoned Kelsey's parents to her room. They evaluated her and summoned an ambulance for their 14-year-old daughter.

Kelsey was transported for medical attention. She stayed home from school for a day and had recuperated within a few days. But a return to the soccer field a couple of days later to watch a game resulted in a similar experience.

"My mom took me to the emergency room where I was prescribed an inhaler, something I've never had before," Kelsey said. "But I've been using it before games ever since."

Now nearly a year later, 15 year-old Kelsey has experienced similar reactions four times. On each occasion, only one common denominator exists. On each occasion, Kelsey was present at the ball fields.

Kelsey's father, Bill Langworthy, clearly remembered the that first occasion last fall.

"When Kelsey got home from practice she was very flustered, very red in the face. We also found it very strange that her shoes and her socks were a blue/green color. She took her socks and shoes off and her feet were that color," Langworthy said. "We told her to take a shower to cool down, but when she got out of the shower she was as red as before. Her breathing started to be labored so we told her to go lay down and try to relax. But her breathing became more and more labored."

Langworthy said it was as if Kelsey was beginning to hyperventilate. Breathing into a paper bag had no result so an ambulance was called and Kelsey was given oxygen and transported to Piedmont Fayette Hospital's emergency room.

"As a parent I have to tell you that there is no worse feeling in the world than when your child is struggling for air and looking for help and you don't have answers," he said. "The look of fear etched in her eyes when she had that oxygen mask on, I will never, until the day I die, forget that look. As a parent, you are helpless."

Kelsey was treated and released after four hours but with no definitive diagnosis other than that she had experienced an allergic reaction, Langworthy said. Though not