Cameron Green: Australia’s all-rounder is suffering from chronic kidney illness
Doctors told the parents of the 24-year-old that he might not live past the age of twelve after diagnosing him with the illness at birth.
Green was part of the Australian team that won the World Cup recently and has since continued to play for his country in all three formats.
Green said to Channel 7 that “I’m still trying to learn as much as I can about it.”
My kidneys basically don’t filter the blood very effectively and don’t function as well as other people’s kidneys do.
Although it’s not ideal for a cricket player, I have to keep my protein and salt intake relatively low. However, because I spend so much of my time on the field during games, I can increase my protein intake.
“I have always done everything right, eating and drinking in a professional way so I did have to make that quite clear, but it is a work in progress,” he explained.
“There’s always a chance that if I don’t take care of myself properly, this could progress from stage two to stage five.”
“The kidneys do not heal; it is a regressive disease; they are unable to repair themselves.” So, if you don’t look after them, it can grow worse – maybe not in a few of months, but certainly over years.”
The issue was discovered during Green’s mother’s 19-week scan, and there were major concerns about his life expectancy.
“At the time, it was uncharted territory as such, and the prognosis wasn’t great,” Green’s father, Gary, said.
“There were life expectancy issues that he might not expect to live past 12 years of age.”
Green, on the other hand, has not been slowed by the disease and has played 24 Tests, 23 One-Day Internationals, and eight T20 Internationals since making his Australia debut in 2020.
“With the profile I’ve got, I just felt like it was important, and if I can help just one person with raising this awareness then it’s worth it,” he told reporters.
“It never really affected me physically, but one of the symptoms was a lot of cramping.”
