Former U.S. President Carter hospitalized for brain surgery

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized in Atlanta for a procedure to relieve brain pressure caused by bleeding due to his recent falls, his spokeswoman says. His wife Rosalynn is with him.

Deanna Congileo, the former president’s spokeswoman, said 95-year-old Carter was admitted to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Monday night. The procedure is scheduled to take place on Tuesday morning.

Congileo said the procedure would relieve brain pressure which is the result of bleeding, caused by a series of falls at his home. “President Carter is resting comfortably, and his wife, Rosalynn, is with him,” she said in a statement.

Other details about Carter’s condition were not immediately known, but Carter has fallen at least three times this year, two of which happened last month.

The most recent accident happened on October 21 when Carter fell at his home in Plains, a town in Georgia, and suffered a minor pelvic fracture. A few weeks earlier, on October 6, Carter fell at his home and required 14 stitches above his eye. He also fell at his home on May 13 and underwent surgery to repair a broken hip.

Carter, a Democrat, served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his work through the Carter Center. The former president is well-known for his charity work and peace efforts since leaving the White House.

Carter has been hospitalized multiple times over the past few years, but despite this, he remained in relatively good health for his age. In 2015, the former president underwent surgery to remove a tumor in his liver and he was treated for spots of melanoma on his brain.

In March, Carter became the longest-living president in U.S. history, surpassing the record held by President George H.W. Bush, who died in November 2018 at the age of 94. Carter, who was born in 1924, turned 95 on October 1.