Published November 17. 2017 01:57PM
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The wife of former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says he's in the early stages of recovery from a heart attack, a day after undergoing an emergency heart procedure.
The 72-year-old Ridge remained hospitalized in critically stable condition Friday in Austin, Texas, where he had been attending a Republican Governors Association conference.
Michele Ridge says it's going to be "day-to-day." He was at his hotel when he called for help Thursday morning. She says first responders worked heroically to get her husband to the trauma center.
He underwent a cardiac catheterization and is now resting comfortably and responding to doctors
Ridge, a Republican, also was a two-term Pennsylvania governor from 1995 to 2001. He was the first homeland security secretary, serving under President George W. Bush until 2005.
FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2009, file photo, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on policy czars. Ridge was in critical condition Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017, after undergoing an emergency heart procedure at a hospital in Austin. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)