Zoe Sharam bought a hepatitis C cure online from Bangladesh.
The drugs have been made available by NHS England but, because of the high price of the pills, only to the sickest patients.
She told the BBC Victoria Derbyshire programme about the risk she was willing to take in order to find a cure.
Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.