Ace needs a kidney transplant. He's been on the waiting list for two years. But that's not that unusual for a black man.
In fact according to the NHS, black and Asian people have to wait, on average, a year longer than white people for a kidney transplant in England.Typical, the state's institutions are riddled with institutional racism and...
Oh. Wait!
"I always tell the story of when I was filling out my driver's licence," says 1Xtra's DJ Ace.
"I was 17. I was like, 'Mum, do I fill out this donor bit?' And she was like, 'no, we don't do that'.
"I just took that as gospel. My mum said we don't do it. So we don't do it. I never even questioned why. I don't think it's something that the black community do."Wait, wait! *gets popcorn* Pray, continue...
In May, Ace's hopes were given a boost. A law change meant every adult in England automatically became a donor, unless they specifically said otherwise.Do you feel a 'But...' coming on, Reader? I do.
But people are opting out and a lot of them are black and Asian.Ooh, need more popcorn.
Kinzah is a 24-year-old Muslim and said she removed herself from the organ donation list because of the way she interprets her religion.Note the phrasing here - the only time the BBC will ever dare to attempt to tell a Muslim they are wrong.
Harpreet Matharu is an organ donation specialist nurse from Birmingham. "I just feel like they've got maybe the wrong message.
"A lot of people are thinking the government are taking control of peoples' organs. That is absolutely not the case."Oh, it absolutely is the case, Harpreet, no matter how much you stamp your little foot and try to deny reality.
But back to Ace. Has he learned something?
Although Ace admits he hasn't really spoken properly to many of his friends about how they could potentially help him, he is feeling more confident of getting a donor.That'll be 'no' then.
