Sarah Sugden is only 16-years-old and has already endured more trauma than most will in a lifetime, which is thankfully not the case for actress Katie Hill.
The teenager links two of Emmerdale's most iconic families, the Sugdens and the Dingles, and has spent most of her life in and out of hospital while battling a devastating diagnosis.
When she was just six in 2011, Sarah was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called Fanconi anaemia, then she needed a bone marrow transplant to save her life and later got involved with a drug dealer.
Life is very different for 18-year-old actress Katie, who was the fifth person to play Sarah when her explosive first scenes aired in 2017.
Sarah was originally played by Lily-May Bartley and Lucy Warren as a baby in 2005, then Amber Child-Cavill had the role for two years.
Sophia Amber Moore appeared as Debbie Dingle's daughter from when she was a toddler in 2007 up until the age of 11 in 2016, but producers decided they needed to cast an older actress "due to the nature of the storyline of the character".
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Katie, who has been in the role for the last four years, had no previous on-screen acting experience when she arrived in the Dales.
As well as smashing her first TV role, Katie is also an incredibly talented singer and often covers songs for her 50,000 Instagram followers.
She regularly shares amazing holiday snaps and photos of her enjoying time with co-stars away from the set, including Daisy Campbell who plays Amelia Spencer.
Katie also likes hanging out with her Emmerdale mum Charley Webb (Debbie Dingle) and her on-screen gran Emma Atkins (Charity Dingle).
The actress started off playing an innocent girl fighting an illness but has loved being able to show a stronger side with "a bit of Dingle in her".
Currently, Katie is unable to film as she had been forced to isolate after returning a positive coronavirus test.
Emmerdale bosses are having to change the filming schedule after the actress was struck down the Covid-19 amid rising cases across the country.
Katie revealed she was isolating and unable to film during a Q&A with some of her followers on Instagram.
When one of her fans asked how she was doing, she replied: "I’m good thank you! But have been better haha. Currently have Covid so having to isolate."
A source tole The Sun : "Health and safety is so strict on set so it wasn't a huge disaster but Katie's filming schedule has obviously been moved around so she can recover."
While ITV added: "We don’t comment on health matters relating to colleagues for privacy reasons. Filming at Emmerdale continues with our H&S protocols and measures in place."
Sarah has overcome a number of devastating health issues, including having a heart transplant to save her life a few years ago, while living with the constant fear she could die at an instance.
This week, Sarah starts to think more about her own mortality when Faith gets a call from the doctors' to go urgently and get her medical results.
"I'm so pleased that Emmerdale is revisiting Sarah's dramatic past," Katie told Inside Soap.
"Sarah has a very problematic medical history, and doctors have told her that she might have a shortened life.
"So with Leanna dying and Granny Faith's mystery illness all her fears are definitely heightened... she's consumed by utter fear."
The teen is left in a state as she grows anxious about her gran, as well as the sudden passing of 18-year-old Leanna Cavanagh, who was brutally murdered.
Leanna's untimely death reminds Sarah of how short life can be and makes her more aware of the possibility of her future not being very long.
"I think Leanna’s death definitely has an impact on Sarah and leaves her worrying about her own life and how something like this could happen to her," Katie told Metro.co.uk.
"She has seen and been through so much from such a young age now I think that definitely will have made her a stronger person and to look at certain situations in a mature way."
Later in the week, Sarah panics again when she bumps into Leanna's grieving father Liam at the graveyard.
After reflecting on Leanna's death and how fate just decides when it's your turn to go, anxious Sarah rushes home and slumps to the floor.
Sarah is also keen to get in contact with the family of the donor who gave her a second chance at life.
She wants to meet up with their family and thank them, so confides in grandfather Cain about how she is feeling.
Conflicted Cain decides to hand over Sarah's donor information, but will she get the response she desires?
Katie said: "Sarah is determined to learn about [her donor family], and I can tell you that she's really determined. Sarah starts investigating things for herself, and she does find someone in the family who agrees to meet her."
*Emmerdale airs tonight on ITV at 7pm and 8pm
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