Paralyzed Hero NYPD Detective Steven McDonald Hospitalized For Heart Attack

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- An NYPD detective known for forgiving a gunman who left him paralyzed was hospitalized following a heart attack, officials said Friday.

Steven McDonald was in serious but stable condition on Friday at a Long Island hospital. Officials gave no further details.

The 59-year-old McDonald was investigating a bicycle robbery in Central Park on July 12, 1986 when he was shot three times.

He was left quadriplegic and had to breathe on a ventilator.

He publicly forgave the teen shooter, Shavod Jones, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In the years after the shooting, McDonald became one of the world's foremost pilgrims for peace. In 1995 he met with Pope John Paul II. That same year he was promoted to detective. He spoke at two Republican conventions.

In 2004, he was promoted to detective first grade.

McDonald took his message of forgiveness to Israel, Northern Ireland and Bosnia.

The teen that shot McDonald, and served nine years behind bars, was killed in a motorcycle accident just days after he was released from prison.

Last year, McDonald saw his NYPD officer son promoted to detective.

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