Cameron Green reveals he is suffering from irreversible chronic kidney disease
Perth, Dec 14: Australia all-rounder Cameron Green has revealed he was born with an irreversible chronic kidney disease, which at one stage put his life expectancy at 12 years.
The lanky all-rounder, who is a vital part of the Australia cricket team, said that the disease has no symptoms and is irreversible.
"My parents got told when I was born that I had chronic kidney disease, basically, there's no symptoms, it was just picked up through ultra sounds," Green told Channel 7.
"Chronic kidney disease is basically a progressive disease of your kidney's health function. Unfortunately, mine don't filter the blood as well as other kidneys."
The 24-year-old revealed that his kidney function is currently at about 60 per cent, which is stage two, with stage five needing transplant or dialysis.
"Fortunately, I'm stage two, but if you don't look after them enough, it easily goes back down. Kidneys can't get better. It's irreversible. So any way you can find to slow the progression, you basically try and do."
The condition was detected when Green's mother Tarcy had her 19-week pregnancy scan.
"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," said Green's father, Gary.
The fast-bowling all-rounder, who has featured in 24 Tests, 23 ODIs and eight T20Is since making his Australia debut in 2020, said the disease also affects his cricketing career as he is more susceptible to cramps.
"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."
He recalled an incident during an ODI against New Zealand in Cairns last year, where he started cramping due to the disease while batting.
"There was definitely one time up in Cairns, playing Australia versus New Zealand, 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.
"It took me a long time to realise that it was probably my kidney function that was affecting my cramping," Green said.
A shy person, Green said he had to eventually tell his teammates about the condition.
"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," Green said.
Cameron Green has chronic kidney disease.
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 14, 2023
There are five stages to it, with the fifth stage requiring a transplant or dialysis.
This is how Green - currently at stage two - manages the condition every day... pic.twitter.com/ikbIntapdy
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Indian-origin Catholic priest shot dead in Kansas
Seneca (US), Apr 4 (AP): An Indian-origin Catholic priest was shot and killed by a man who approached him at his parish rectory in the town of Seneca, Kansas, church officials said.
An Oklahoma man is being held on suspicion of the killing.
Officers called to the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca on Thursday afternoon found Arul Carasala with gunshot wounds outside the rectory, the Nemaha County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post. The 57-year-old priest was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died.
“I am heartbroken to share the tragic news of the death of Fr. Arul Carasala, who was fatally shot earlier today," Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
"This senseless act of violence has left us grieving the loss of a beloved priest, leader, and friend.”
Carasala had been the pastor at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca since 2011, according to his profile on the parish website.
Sheriff's deputies and officers with the Seneca Police Department later arrested Gary Hermesch of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Authorities say Hermesch, 66, is being held in the Nemaha County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder.
The Associated Press left a phone message with county prosecutor Brad Lippert seeking additional information.
Authorities have not released a possible motive for the shooting or said whether the suspect and the priest knew each other.
Kris Anderson, the parish's director of religious education, told the AP on Thursday through tears that she knew few details.
“From what we know, an older man walked up to him (Carasala) and shot him three times,” she said.
The priest's death left people in shock in Seneca, a city of about 2,100 where Carasala had been the pastor at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church since 2011, according to his profile on the parish website. He was ordained as a priest in 1994 in his native India and had served in Kansas since 2004. He became a US citizen in 2011.
Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas said in a Facebook post that there was no ongoing threat to the community, but that he recognised the “pain and shock” the priest's death had brought to the community.
“Fr. Carasala was a devoted and zealous pastor who faithfully served our Archdiocese for over twenty years, including as dean of the Nemaha-Marshall region,” he wrote.
“His love for Christ and His Church was evident in how he ministered to his people with great generosity and care. His parishioners, friends, and brother priests will deeply miss him.”
Seneca is about 60 miles (97 kilometres) north of Topeka, about 90 miles (145 kilometres) northwest of Kansas City and about 300 miles (480 kilometres) north of Tulsa.
