Steven McDonald RIP

Steven McDonald with son Connor and wife Patti

Officer Steven McDonald passed away at North Shore University Hospital on Long Island after suffering a heart attack. He was paralyzed in Central Park, New York City on July 12, 1986. McDonald and his supervisor encountered three suspected bike robbers. In an instant, a gun shot changed Officer Steven McDonald’s life. While the injury paralyzed McDonald, it never immobilized his commitment to serve others. McDonald was married less than a year, with a child on the way, when tragedy struck. Connor was born 6 months later and is now a police officer with the NYPD. “My wife’s love and my son’s affection keep me going every day of my life,” McDonald said frequently in many of his motivational speeches he gave over the past 30 years. Shot three times, Steven was left quadriplegic and still breathes on a ventilator. Shavod Jones, a 15-year-old, was convicted. Instead of revenge, McDonald offered forgiveness.

The funeral mass will be held at St. Patrick's Cathedral later on today Friday, and will be celebrated by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who calls McDonald "an icon of mercy and forgiveness." Steven became well-known for his charity work in the decades after the shooting, preaching the power of forgiveness. "He was a gift to the city. He's no longer with us but his spirit still survives and I think that will get us through along with all of our members," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker. McDonald had continued as an active member of the police department despite the fact that he used a wheelchair and was only able to breathe with help from a respirator.

Steven and Patti with Connor, still a young toddler

"To have to struggle for each and every breath for 30 years and to do the work that Steven had done for 30 years, to have that message of peace and forgiveness and faith, he's an absolutely tremendous human being and he'll be sorely missed by everyone in this department," NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said. "He would be so overwhelmed by the love everyone is showing to his family," said his widow Patti McDonald. "The most important thing we can take away from my father is his mission of love and compassion and forgiveness," said the detective's son Connor. "That cannot die, that has to keep going and transcend."