Memorial to cop who kept inspiring after paralysis

A YEAR AFTER his death, Detective Steven McDonald’s legacy will live on at the Central Park police precinct.

City officials unveiled a plaque honoring McDonald, who was left paralyzed when he was shot by a teenager in 1986 — and who inspired New Yorkers when he forgave the teen who shot him, spreading that message until his death at age 59 from a heart attack last year.

“People will see this plaque for years and years to come and they’ll be reminded — but not of an idea that they try to grasp that’s difficult, but of an idea that’s powerful and passionate and immediate: that we all should be about serving others, that we all should be about protecting others, and forgiving those who we come across who do the wrong thing as well as celebrating those who do the right thing,” Mayor de Blasio said.

McDonald’s message of forgiveness to the 15-year-old who shot him, Shavod Jones, led him to a life as a symbol and proponent of forgiveness across the world.

After forgiving Jones on the day of McDonald’s son’s Baptism — McDonald’s wife, Patti Ann, was pregnant when he was shot — he spoke to thousands of officers, students and others about his story.

“The first time I met him, I knew he was a special person,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said. “To be able to live your life incapacitated like that, physically but certainly not mentally, and to share that message of love, it’s pretty special. I’m not sure if there’s too many human beings on this planet that could do that.”

But McDonald did — and his message inspired his fellow police officers, O’Neill said, and beyond. McDonald’s son, Conor, went on to follow in his father’s footsteps, joining the NYPD in 2010 and being promoted to sergeant in 2016.

Conor McDonald said when he told his father’s story to people who hadn’t heard it, they often couldn’t believe it.

“Something so dark and ugly, and it probably became one of the most beautiful stories that this city has to offer,” he said.

Patti Ann McDonald said her husband always put others first, and never complained about the difficulties of living in a wheelchair and on a ventilator.

“Steven lived life with a purpose: to show us a better way,” she said. “When life knocks you down, Steven would tell Conor and I to get up and keep moving. We only have one chance to make this place a better place, and Steven showed it — it didn’t matter how many obstacles are in front of you.”

The dedication ceremony was packed with police officers and dignitaries — including former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, former Mayor David Dinkins and Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

De Blasio said all of New Yorkers should see McDonald as a guide.

“All I ask of each of us, every one of us, and I start with myself — you get to that moment of decision, when you wonder what you should do, ask yourself the question: What would Steven McDonald have done?” de Blasio said. “That would probably be a good guide to living the right way.”