Cameron Green Reveals He Was Born With Chronic Kidney Disease, Had A Life Expectancy Of 12 Years

Australia allrounder Cameron Green has revealed he was born with chronic kidney disease and has been managing it since then. At one point, he faced a life expectancy of just 12 years due to the rare disease. Despite the challenges, Cameron Green has not only overcome the odds but has successfully managed the conditions throughout his professional cricketing career.

The 24-year-old failed to make the cut for Australia’s playing XI for the ongoing first Test against Pakistan in Perth. The reigning World Test Championship champions once again picked Mitchell Marsh over Cameron Green. Marsh had put himself ahead of Green in the pecking order after impressing against England in the Ashes earlier this year.

However, cricket took the backseat when Cameron Green revealed that he has been dealing with kidney disease for his entire life. Known for their shy nature, the young allrounder also disclosed that most of his teammates and friends are also unaware of his condition.

“My parents got told when I was born that I had chronic kidney disease,” Cameron Green told Channel 7. “Basically, there’s no symptoms, it was just picked up through ultrasounds.

“Chronic kidney disease is basically a progressive disease of your kidney’s health function. 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 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. With chronic kidney disease 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,” he added.

Cameron Green’s battle throughout his life:

Gary Green, the father of the Australia star, revealed that his son’s disease was picked up when his mother Bee Tracey had her 19-week pregnancy scan. Gary also revealed that there were initial fears Cameron may not live past the age of 12.

“At the time it was unchartered territory as such, the prognosis wasn’t great,” Gary said. “There were life expectancy issues that he might not expect to live past twelve years of age.”

Speaking further, Cameron Green opened up on how he has managed his disease throughout his career so far. He revealed that he only had one concerning episode while playing for Australia which took place during an ODI against New Zealand last year. He had played an unbeaten knock of 89 runs in that match.

“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,” Green said. “It took me a long time to realise 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, but I think over time I realised that I was doing absolutely everything right, but I was still cramping, unfortunately.

"If I can help one person or bring awareness to it, it's worthwhile."

Cam Green chats with @mel_mclaughlin and Ricky Ponting after revealing he has chronic kidney disease. pic.twitter.com/54xMMSmldB

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 14, 2023

“I have told a few guys in the cricket world. 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,” he added.

The 24-year-old has already made his debut in all three formats for Australia. He has played 24 Tests, 23 ODIs, and 8 T20Is so far. He was also a member of the Australia team that won the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup earlier this year.