Australia all-rounder Cameron Green has revealed he suffers from a lifelong chronic kidney disease.
Green spoke for the first time about his condition during an interview with Channel 7, revealing that his parents originally feared he may not live to be a teenager.
“My parents got told when I was born,” he told the broadcaster.
“Chronic kidney disease is basically a progressive disease of your kidneys’ health function. Unfortunately, mine don’t filter the blood as well as other kidneys. They’re at about 60% at the moment which is stage two.
“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.
“There’s 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.”
Despite never previously speaking publicly about the issue, Green has made sure his cricketing colleagues are aware of the physical challenges he faces.
“I have told a few guys in the cricket world,” he said.
“The coaching staff are all over it. I think all the guys in the Aussie cricket team, I’ve told.
“After a few cramping episodes, I probably had to come off and tell them that it’s probably more than not being professional enough because I knew in the background I was eating and drinking as much as I could to give myself the best chance.”
Green has played 24 Tests, including two Ashes series, and was part of Australia’s World Cup-winning squad in India last month.
