Until his death on Sunday (29), at the age of 100, Jimmy Carter was the oldest former president of the United States. And since February 2023, Carter has been under hospice care after a series of brief hospital stays.
Throughout his life, especially in recent years, the former president had several health problems.
On August 3, 2015, Carter underwent liver surgery to remove a small mass, which “went smoothly.” Days after the procedure, he announced that recent surgery had revealed that he had cancer that had spread to other parts of his body.
Still in August of the same year, Carter held a press conference in which he revealed that doctors had found melanoma spots on his brain and that he would undergo treatment to combat them.
The former president, then 90 years old, explained that he initially thought he only had a few weeks to live, but later became more optimistic. “I’ve had a wonderful life,” Carter said with the same unflinching honesty and meticulous detail that characterized his presidency.
“I’m ready for anything and looking forward to a new adventure,” during the 40-minute on-camera appearance, in which he often flashed his huge smile and never let the emotion get the better of him. “The situation is in the hands of God, whom I love,” added the former president.
Later that year, Carter reported that according to his last brain MRI, the cancer was gone.
Despite beating brain cancer in 2015, Jimmy Carter faced a series of health problems in 2019, which forced him to abandon his decades-long tradition of teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, N.C. Georgia.
In May 2019, the Carter Center organization revealed that the then 94-year-old former president was recovering from surgery after suffering a broken hip caused by a fall at his home.
“He is recovering from surgery to repair a hip fracture at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia,” the facility said at the time. “His surgeon said the procedure was a success. His wife, Rosalynn, is with him.”
The same statement also said that Carter was ready to hunt again despite the accident: “President Carter has said that his main concern is that the turkey season will end this week without reaching its limit.” He added: “He hopes the state of Georgia will allow him to carry over the unused limit to next year.”
In October of that same year, Carter suffered another fall at home, which resulted in 14 stitches to his head. Undeterred, the former president traveled to Nashville later that day, where he spoke from the stage of the iconic Ryman Auditorium alongside his wife and former first lady Rosalynn Carter.
“Well, first of all, I want to explain my black eye,” said Carter, as he walked with a cane.
He said the accident occurred while he was preparing to go to church. “I fell and hit my forehead on a sharp ledge and had to go to hospital. I had 14 stitches on my forehead and I have a black eye, as you may have noticed. But I had a number one priority, which was to go to Nashville and build houses.”
A few days later, the former president suffered another fall at home, and was then admitted to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center for observation and treatment of a small pelvic fracture.
Because of these incidents, Carter was again admitted to a hospital in Atlanta, where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. “Former US President Jimmy Carter is recovering at Emory University Hospital following surgery this morning to relieve pressure on his brain due to a subdural hematoma. There were no complications from the surgery,” the Carter Center said in a statement.
On December 2, 2019, Carter was briefly hospitalized again due to a urinary tract infection.
After four years, in February 2023: “After a series of brief hospital stays, former US President Jimmy Carter decided today to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive palliative care rather than other medical interventions. He has the full support of his family and his medical team.”
From this context, that, on October 1, 2024, . US President Joe Biden dedicated a birthday greeting to the former president expressing admiration for his predecessor, and thousands of children made cards to mark the occasion.
