Former President Jimmy Carter will spend his “remaining time” on hospice care at his home.
Carter, 98, held office from 1977 to 1981 as the 39th President. He has reportedly experienced health problems, including a series of falls in 2019 for which Carter underwent hip surgery.
“After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” wrote the Carter Center in a Saturday announcement.
“He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.”
https://t.co/1auzIG0yqy pic.twitter.com/JJQMWgg8DW
— The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) February 18, 2023
In 2016, the former President revealed he had melanoma which spread to his liver and brain. Carter subsequently underwent surgery, radiation therapy and immunotherapy, ABC News reported.
Following his time in office, Carter and wife Rosalynn founded the Carter Center, which brands itself as a human rights organization. The Carters have also been supporters of Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit which assists in housing.
In 2002, the former President received the Nobel Peace Prize for “undertaking peace negotiations, campaigning for human rights, and working for social welfare.”
Carter has taught Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia since the 1980s, CNN reported.
“Lord, we’d be amiss this morning if we did not lift President Carter to you,” a prayer leader in the church said of Carter’s absence. “Lord, we pray that you be with his family [and] those around him. And God, we thank you for his service to this nation.”
