"It's hard for people to understand that actually I live with this, I'm not dying from it, but I can't do the same things as you can."
Rita Ramos has blood transfusion treatment every six weeks at Nottingham City Hospital, meets with haematology teams for blood tests and takes multiple different medications.
The 18-year-old, from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, was born with sickle cell disease, a condition that means she relies on regular blood transfusions to live.
As part of World Blood Donor Day, she has shared her experience and is encouraging others to donate blood.
Sickle cell disease is the name for a group of inherited health conditions that affect the haemoglobin molecules in red blood cells, causing red cells to become stiff and stuck in the smallest blood vessels.