My name is Charli Woodward and I’m currently 16 years old.
When I was in the womb I had SVT (super ventricular tachycardia) which I was treated for and cured before I was born. However, at 15 years of age I was diagnosed with PJRT (persistent [permanent] junctional reciprocating tachycardia) which meant that I had extra circuits in my heart which would give me palpitations regularly along with some other side effects. I’ve been treated at the University Hospital of Wales - Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital in Cardiff over the past 18 months, and at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in Bristol during my 2 ablation operations (Heart catheterisation operations). It was quite hard for me to go from being a normal 15 year old teenager to an ill teenager who had to restrict daily activities, things I ate and ensuring I took all of my medication on time. Despite this, the support that I had from the staff at the hospital, especially my consultant and liaison nurse, was incredible. I was able to text, email or call any of them if I had any questions or concerns, and they were happy to do home visits to get to know my family and talk everyone through things to make sure everyone understood.
Also, when I was admitted at the hospital and had to stay, the hospital provided play specialists, who visited children and their families on the wards and kept them company, and occupied. This was great for me and my family as we always had someone friendly around (including nurses and doctors) who we were able to talk to.
In July 2018, I had my first heart operation, in which I went to the children’s hospital in Bristol. I stayed there for 2 days where I underwent the ablation and unfortunately, despite the 95% success rate, the operation didn’t work fully due to my condition being more complex than expected. So, I was put on medications which I took over the next year until July 2019 came, and I went back up to the children’s hospital in Bristol and had my second ablation. Fortunately, this time the operation was successful with the help of a 3D mapping machine which the hospital had. Now I am going through some tests just to double check that everything is okay, and am hoping to be officially discharged from the hospital soon!
The work that the NHS do is incomprehensible, and the amount of work that all staff do is incredible. They don’t get enough credit for everything they do. I’ve met some incredible people throughout my stays at the hospital, who I will never forget.
I’ve experienced first hand the work that the NHS, and specifically the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital does, and any sort of donation or volunteering or fundraising for the hospital would be amazing.

Our mission is to support the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales and the thousands of children and families within it. Working hand in hand with people like you to do this, we fund:- state of the art equipment that saves lives, improves outcomes and makes treatment more bearable- facilities that allow parents and carers to access care as quickly as possible for their children and enable families to enjoy as much time as they can together- support services that make the hospital experience less stressful and more child focused