Australian all-rounder Cameron Green stunned the cricket world on Thursday, December 14, by revealing that he has been dealing with chronic kidney disease since birth.
Green revealed that the condition was detected during his mother's 19-week pregnancy scan. Interestingly, Green's father, Gary, who played a key role in shaping his cricket career, shared initial concerns about whether Cameron would survive beyond the age of 12.
However, despite facing this health challenge, Green managed to make his career in the game of cricket and even broke into Australia's team across all formats. He made his Test and ODI debut in 2020 and T20I debut in 2022 and was part of Australia's 2023 ICC World Cup-winning team last month.
Currently, the 24-year-old is with the Australian cricket team for the ongoing three-match Test series against Pakistan at home, although he was benched for the opening match in Perth.
Cameron Green told Channel 7: “My parents got told when I was born that I had chronic kidney disease. Basically, there are no symptoms, it was just picked up through ultrasounds. Chronic kidney disease is basically a progressive disease of your kidney's health function.”
He continued, “Unfortunately, mine doesn't filter the blood as well as other kidneys. They're at about 60% at the moment which is stage two. I think it was pretty well documented that I had a pretty long day of bowling and a pretty long bat as well, and then had a cramping episode.”
Speaking about his journey with kidney issues, Green noted: “It took me a long time to realize that it was probably my kidney function that was affecting my cramping. I always thought I didn't drink enough, didn't eat enough, didn't look after myself during the game as well as I could have.”
The Australian star added, “But I think over time I realized that I was doing absolutely everything right, but I was still cramping, unfortunately. I consider myself very lucky that I'm not as affected physically by chronic kidney disease as other people who are affected by the same thing.”
Green signed off by saying, “With chronic kidney disease there are five stages, with stage one being the least severe, and stage five being transplant or dialysis. Fortunately, I'm stage two, but if you don't look after them enough, it goes back down. Kidneys can't get better. It's irreversible. So, anything you can do to slow the progression, you basically try and do.”
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(With PTI Inputs)
