May 20, 2008 (Web only)

By Kristen M. Daum

kristen.daum@newsday.com

WASHINGTON -- At a congressional reception for the Irish prime minister three weeks ago, a crowd of people were hoping to meet Sen. Edward Kennedy - but the famed Massachusetts senator had his sights on meeting just one: a former New York police officer from Malverne.

During a speech before Congress, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern mentioned Malverne resident Steven McDonald, a New York Police Department officer who was shot in the line of duty and is now quadriplegic.

At the reception afterward, Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) asked the 76-year-old senator to meet with McDonald and his wife, Patti Ann.

"He worked his way through a mob full of people. Everyone was sandwiched in tight and he spoke to him for a good 10 minutes," King recalled yesterday. "It was really moving. It wasn't just the gratuitous, 'Oh how you doing, I'm Ted Kennedy.' He was really asking about him."

For Steven McDonald, "It was a chance meeting, and a special meeting for me," he said yesterday. "I've always been someone who was motivated and inspired by their family."

He described the Massachusetts senator as "nice, personable and warm."

Steven and Patti Ann McDonald were at their Malverne home yesterday, looking through photos of their April 30th visit with Kennedy -- when they heard the news of his brain tumor.

"We're shocked," said Patti Ann McDonald, who is Malverne's mayor. "He really could not have nicer . . . and he looked as healthy as anything."

Steven McDonald described Kennedy's tumor as another tragic event for America's famed political family. "That he should be suffering at this stage of his life is just terrible," he said. "It's tragic -- some of the things that happen in this world."

King worked closely with Kennedy during the Northern Ireland peace process, and described Kennedy as a "giant in Washington."

"Whether you agree or disagree with him, he's a warrior in what he does," King said.

© Kristen M. Daum, 2008-2009. All published content and associated logos copyright of respective publications.