NEW YORK (CNN) -- Nearly three weeks after he was nearly killed in a car crash, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine left Cooper University Hospital Monday, saying "I am a blessed human being."

The 60-year-old governor was pushed in a wheelchair by his two adult children.

"I understand that I set a very poor example for a lot of young people, and people in general," the governor told members of the news media and a crowd of well-wishers who had gathered outside the hospital entrance.

"I hope the state will forgive me," he said in an apparent acknowledgment that he was not wearing a seatbelt on April 12 when the SUV being driven at about 90 mph by a state trooper hit a guard rail.

"I will work really hard to set the right example to make a difference in people's lives," he said.

His voice breaking, he thanked his family, medical staff and rescuers for their work and support.

The crash on the Garden State Parkway broke his left thigh bone in two places and caused the femur to pierce through his skin. He also broke ribs on each side, his sternum, his collarbone, fractured a lower vertebra and suffered a deep facial cut.