TRIGGER WARNING: This article discusses sensitive topics including death. Please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 if you are in need of support.
Next week marks the two-year anniversary of NSW paramedic Steven Tougher’s tragic and senseless death.
For his parents, Jeff and Jill, they’ll be spending the day doing what they do best – proudly sharing his story in the hopes another family will not receive the same devastating phone call they did.
Steven, aged 29, was killed on April 14, 2023, outside a McDonald’s in Campbelltown in Sydney’s west. He was on his work break.
“He was married in March, [killed] in April, and his daughter was born in May,” Jeff tells New Idea. “You cannot write it any sadder than that. That drives us, that’s our purpose now.”
This April 14, the Toughers will begin a five-day journey from their home in Wollongong, to Canberra and then up through regional NSW, visiting major hospitals to share their ‘Steven’s Law’ campaign.
The movement calls for new laws to be introduced in NSW to protect frontline workers. It has already garnered incredible interest through a series of bumper stickers.
Dozens of NSW ambulances are proudly representing the cause on the back of the vehicles.
If passed, the law will ensure paramedics have access to stab-proof vests, body-worn cameras, and a mandatory minimum 12-month jail term for anyone found guilty of assaulting a frontline worker.
However, the sentence would be suspended if the offender agrees to attend a rehabilitation program.
While it’s taken countless hours of research and meetings with experts and officials to collate this series of recommendations, Jeff and Jill say all they want to do is make their boy proud.
“We can’t bring him back – we’ve cried and cried and cried,” Jill says. “We have to try to move on with this because we can’t change it.”
Jeff adds: “I couldn’t let what happened to Steven just be another news item. If we can get Steven’s Law in, it will become part of the vernacular. It won’t be a waste.”
Standing tall at six foot five, Jeff and Jill describe Steven as a “gentle giant” whose dream was to become a paramedic – and that nothing was going to stop him from achieving that.
“Steven was born to do this job,” Jeff says.
“As a little kid, he’d always be running around with a stethoscope trying to hear your heart or he was checking your pupils with a torch.”
He adds, laughing, “At Christmas, he’d hand out homemade first-aid kits – no wonder we could never find a Band-Aid!”
While they hoped he’d take up rugby league or boxing as a sport, it was crystal clear that Steven only ever wanted to help people.
“If he saw anyone get tackled to the ground, he’d run and try to do first aid on them while he was playing,” Jill says, smiling.
“He refused to tackle anyone as he didn’t want to hurt them.”
Jeff adds: “In the boxing ring, he wasn’t interested. But whenever there was a bleeding nose or sprained wrist, he’d be there. That’s the way he was.”
As the Toughers continue to grapple with their loss, they say the support of their family – and the arrival of Steven’s daughter, Lily-Mae, in May 2023 – has given them a new sense of focus.
“She’s got the same personality as her father – she’s very kind,” Jill says.
“She’s the apple of our eyes. Family was absolutely everything to Steven.”
In November 2024, Jordan James Fineanganofo was found not criminally responsible for Steven’s death on mental health grounds.
The Toughers plan to present the series of recommendations to the NSW Parliament later this year.
Find out more information about the campaign on the Steven’s Law Facebook page or purchase a sticker for $5 by contacting [email protected]
