'Something special about him': stabbed paramedic's widow shares her heartache

The love story of this young couple is one of a chance meeting, shared laughs, hopes for the future and a deep bond cut short by unimaginable moments of terror.

It has been exactly two years since Steven was fatally stabbed 55 times while on a meal break in a McDonald's car park in Sydney's southwest.

As his attacker lunged at him again and again, Steven tried to push him off as he said "What are you doing? Stop stabbing me mate".

When 23-year-old Jordan James Fineanganofo faced court for killing Steven, aged 29, he was found not criminally responsible for the paramedic's murder because of mental impairment.

Steven and Madison first met through a dating app in 2018; she was 21 years old, and he was 24. But, back then, she thought "this guy is too good for me", so they parted ways and dated other people.

Three years later, they met again by chance at the Harp Hotel in Wollongong and this time she "knew".

"When I met him at the Harp I just knew," she said. "I went home, and I said to my Mum, 'I'm going to marry that guy'.

"My family were so sick and tired of hearing about him ... I just knew there was something special about him.

"He had a way of making you feel happy 24-7 and just making me feel safe. He was just one of a kind."

Madison was heavily pregnant with the couple's first child when Steven died, and she was at home getting ready for work when an unknown number called her mobile phone.

At first, she ignored it, but when it called again she answered, and a paramedic told her Steven was in the hospital.

"That week, he'd already been in hospital for an unrelated issue, and I just thought that had happened again," she said.

"The paramedic that called me, he was like 'we'll be there in 20 minutes to pick you up'."

She still didn't know what happened to Steven and as she sat in the car beside the paramedic she grabbed her phone

"I went on Facebook just to distract myself, and Sunrise had posted that a paramedic had been stabbed in Campbelltown, and I was like 'oh f**k'," she said.

She instantly "knew" it was him.

Steven was killed on April 14, 2023, and he and Madison had only been married for one month. Their daughter was born a month after his brutal death.

"We were married 34 days, I was 34 weeks pregnant, and then 34 days after he passed away, I had Lily," Madison said.

The couple's final conversation was about what they'd call their much-longed-for daughter.

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"Our last text and conversation was about girl's names, it was 2.38am, he sent girl's names," Madison said.

They had decided she would be called Lily with Mae as the middle name after Madison's nan. But when Steven died their daughter was named Lily-Mae Stevie Tougher.

"I really miss having the family that we were meant to have. All my friends are now getting married and having kids and I'm not envious or jealous, I just wonder what that would be like to have that family that we were meant to have," she said.

When Madison and Steven started dating, she had an 18-month-old son, Kobi, and she saw how great Steven was with her young child.

"As a stepdad, he got down to Kobi's level. He was patient, he was kind, he was empathetic, he taught Kobi how to ride a bike. He just spent the time and made the effort to be in Kobi's life.

An honour board for Steven provided by NSW Ambulance hangs on a wall in their home, and so does his wedding band on a chain; and while Madison has shed her fair share of tears since his death, she is determined Kobi and Lily-Mae will have a happy life and that they know about Steven's boundless joy and enthusiasm.

Kobi, aged 5, often tells his little sister stories about Steven, and while the paramedic might have hated spiders, bugs have become a way that Kobi remembers Steven.

"He'll see a bug and say 'Mum, bugs remind me of Steve' ... if a lady beatle flies on him he'll be like 'that's Steve'," Madison said.

"You'll go to Lily 'Where's Dad?' and she'll point to her heart."

Seeing rainbows and kookaburras are also other moments the family remembers not only Steven but Madison's uncle and pop, who died in unrelated incidents.

"Every time she [Lily-Mae] sees a kookaburra she says 'Steve's coming to visit' or my pop," Madison said.

When Kobi, who used to call his stepdad "Stevie Darling", spots an ambulance, he asks, "Is that the ambulance that took Steve to heaven?".

"Some days it doesn't even feel like he's gone because we talk about him so positively, it's not like it's a hidden thing, I'm a very open book. Happiness is just the key to life," Madison said.

It may have been against NSW Ambulance rules, but Steven loved wearing funny socks while at work and the anniversary of his death has become Silly Socks Day to honour the paramedic who was loved by so many.

Madison has become a regular blood donor in her husband's honour after he received blood transfusions to help save his life.

On the second anniversary of Steven's death, his parents Jeff and Jill will start a road trip to continue their 'Steven's Law' campaign to better support front line workers.

They are calling for body-worn cameras and stab vests for paramedics, as well as a mandatory minimum 12 months in jail for anyone who assaults a frontline worker, regardless of the offender's circumstance or state of mind.

Under the proposed law, Mr Tougher said the jail sentence could be suspended if the perpetrator attends programs to address anger management, drug and alcohol problems, and mental health issues.

During their road trip across NSW and the ACT they will be putting Steven's Law stickers onto as many emergency services vehicles as they can.