‘Mum and daughter ambulance teams are rare, but we’re a comfort to people’

As a paramedic, Nicky Broszek’s working day often involves traumatic scenes. So she felt a strange mix of pride and anxiety when her daughter Maisie wanted to follow in her footsteps

died and a lot of people were injured. When Maisie read out the call, we knew straight from the off it was going to be a big job with a lot of trauma and high emotions. And I knew Maisie would never have seen anything like it as it’s the kind of thing you only see once or twice in your career, and I was worried she was going to be overwhelmed.

When we got to the crash, it looked like a war zone with debris and cars everywhere. I was pleased I could be with Maisie – I felt like I could protect her – but quickly I was needed for my paramedic skills and taken to the Major Trauma Centre, leaving her on the scene.

We were being filmed for BBC One’s Ambulance programme that day, and

I later saw on TV just how sensible and caring she was as she dealt with the less seriously injured and the bus driver who survived. I was proud of her and in awe of how capable she was for her age, as I wouldn’t have been as confident.

Maisie has had years of me telling her stories when I come home from work, so she had a totally realistic view of the job even before she joined. Sometimes you just need to make someone a cup of tea or hold their hand.

I’d always wanted to be a paramedic, but at school they put me off saying I was too small at five foot two. So from the age of 20, I was self-employed running a beauty salon then working from home when the girls came along. But I was still interested in health and used to do first-aid courses until I became a community responder, carrying a defibrillator and being told where to go to help people. I got the bug aged 40 after I did my first cardiac arrest and soon joined the London Ambulance Service as emergency ambulance crew.

I then qualified as a paramedic.

When Maisie joined, it didn’t change our relationship. We’ve always got on well, but it was nice to spend more time with her. We know instinctively how the other will be feeling about certain situations. We’ve been to traumatic stabbings and mental health incidents together, and I’ve seen how Maisie deals with elderly people – she is so kind, caring and gets quite emotional for those who are lonely.

I was worried about her when Covid first happened. I’ve never seen that many unwell people in my life and I thought: ‘Am I going to take the virus home? Is Maisie going to look like that?’ Thankfully, neither ofushashadit.

Maisie and I do talk about the job at home, but not constantly, and our friends and family aren’t surprised how well we get on when we work together – we’re very close.