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Former Pa. Gov. Tom Ridge returns home after heart attack

The former governor had a heart attack last month.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, in 2009, before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on policy czars. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, in 2009, before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on policy czars. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)Read moreAP Photo / Haraz N. Ghanbari
    by Liz Navratil, HARRISBURG BUREAU, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Published 

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge returned to his Maryland home Wednesday, nearly a month after he had a heart attack.

Ridge, 72, left a rehabilitation facility in Texas Wednesday morning and arrived at his home in a suburb of Washington, D.C., later in the day, according to a statement from his spokesman, Steve Aaron.

Ridge was in Austin for a conference when he had a heart attack at his hotel Nov. 16 and was rushed to a local hospital. He left the hospital Dec. 5 and had been at a rehabilitation facility since then.

"Gov. Ridge wishes to thank all those who continue to keep him and the Ridge family in their thoughts and prayers along with the many dedicated medical professionals who have assisted in his recovery," Aaron said.

Ridge, a Harvard University graduate and Vietnam War veteran, served in the U.S. House before he became governor and then secretary of U.S. Homeland Security. In recent years, he has headed Ridge Global, a firm that advises on cyber security, international security and risk management.