She contracted the virus from one of many blood transfusions she received during six months in hospital.
Despite being in and out of hospital for much of her life, and spending her days protecting herself from infection, she was never tested and did not know she had the virus until 2009, when she asked for the test.
Now she knows, she is continually astounded by how little people know about hepatitis C, the stigma attached to it and the discrimination against people with it.
The Port Chalmers resident received treatment in 2010, which she said was a difficult experience, but it was unsuccessful, as it is in some cases.
Life with hepatitis C was not too difficult for her.
She often felt fatigued, but she kept a good diet, stopped drinking alcohol and practised blood safety, including staying well away from her two children when she had a cut or a sore.
Both her children have been tested and are free of the virus.
One of the more difficult aspects of having the disease was the assumptions people made, largely out of ignorance or misunderstanding about the virus, she said.
''People think it's so contagious. But it has got to be blood-to-blood contact. It's really quite hard to get.''
People also assumed if someone had hepatitis C, they got it from drug use.
A doctor in hospital once asked her when she last used drugs, after she had told him she had hepatitis C and he should wear gloves.
''Even if people did [get it from drug use] there is ignorance. That was their choice - they made a decision, yes, but they didn't ask for [hepatitis C], and people won't go out and ask for help or treatment when they need it because they feel they are not worth it, and that's not on.''
When it came to finding jobs, she had been told the virus would prevent her from doing several lines of work, including filling shelves at a supermarket.
''It's very misunderstood; it's quite bad. A lot of education needs to happen.''
She would like to see that education start in high schools.
