Aussie cricket star Cameron Green reveals chronic disease with doctors once telling him he may not live beyond age of 12
CAMERON GREEN has opened up on his battle with chronic kidney disease, with doctors having once warned that he may not live beyond the age of 12.
The Aussie all-rounder has become one of cricket‘s most exciting rising stars.
Green, 24, helped his country to World Cup glory this year.
While he has also represented Australia in all three formats of the game.
The Perth-born star has had to overcome adversity to get to where he has, having been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease at birth.
Doctors told Green’s worried parents that their son may not live beyond 12, but the rising star has not let his condition hold him back.
Speaking to Aussie network Channel 7, Green said: “I’m still trying to learn as much as I can about it.
“Basically, my kidneys don’t work as well as other people’s and don’t filter the blood very well.
“So I have got to keep my salt and my protein quite low, which isn’t ideal as a cricketer but around games I can pick that protein intake back up because I spend so much of it out on the ground.
“It’s just about finding the best ways to look after me.”
With his kidney only functioning at around 60 per cent, Green has had to be the consummate pro to achieve the considerable success that he has.
On how he has looked after himself, he continued: “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.
“There’s always a chance that if I don’t look after myself right, this could go from stage two to stage five.
“The kidneys don’t heal, it’s a regressive disease, they can’t repair themselves. So if you don’t look after them, it can get worse – maybe not in the space of a couple of months but certainly over years.”
Green’s condition has been a concern since before he was even born, with the disease having been detected when his mother went for her 19-week scan.
As part of Channel 7’s feature, Green’s father Gary lifted the lid on the seriousness of the situation, revealing: “At the time it was unchartered territory as such, the prognosis wasn’t great.
“There were life expectancy issues that he might not expect to live past 12 years of age.”
Having been playing for his country since he was 21, Green has become a well-known figure in Aussie sport.
And after having gone through what he has, he is determined to make a difference.
Green added: “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.
“It’s never really impacted me physically but some of the symptoms were a lot of cramping.
“I’d be playing footy and get to the third quarter and I’d go down with double-calf cramps but I never really put the link together, I just thought that maybe I was running too much or not eating or drinking properly.
“You can see that I am fine physically and that normally isn’t the case for people with this disease so I do consider myself pretty lucky.”