On July 12th, 1986 Detective Steven McDonald of the New York City Police Department was shot three times and left for dead by a 15-year-old. The gun was pulled when McDonald was questioning the boy about bicycle thefts in Central Park.
He was shot in the head, the throat and the spine. McDonald was not expected to survive those injuries. But he did. And after eight months in the hospital he moved the country with a few simple words.
“I feel sorry for him,” McDonald told the media. “I forgive him and hope that he can find peace and purpose in his life.