Former US President Jimmy Carter will be in palliative care for a year on Sunday, a period which saw him defy the odds, reach the age of 99 and attend the funeral of his wife Rosalynn.
“One year after entering hospice care, President Carter is still at home with his family,” his charitable foundation Carter Center said in a statement to American media, on the first anniversary of his decision to remain in hospice care. his home in Plains, Georgia (southeast), after a series of hospitalizations rather than benefit from additional medical intervention.
“The Carter family expresses its gratitude for the many messages of love they have received and the continued respect for their private lives,” according to the foundation of the former American president (1977-1981). “The family is pleased that his decision last year to enter hospice care has sparked so much family discussion across the country on this important topic,” the statement added.
Oldest president in the country’s history
Jimmy Carter is the oldest former president of the United States in the history of the country. The former Democratic president last appeared in public in November, at the funeral of his wife Rosalynn Carter, who died at the age of 96. “When he entered palliative care (…) we thought it was a matter of days,” said his grandson Jason Carter according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution daily. “That’s what the doctors said. But one way to look at it is to think that God wasn’t done with him yet,” he continued.
Jimmy Carter was president for only one term. An architect of the Camp David agreements which led, in March 1979, to the signing of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, he was strongly criticized in his country during the taking of American hostages in Iran in 1979-80. After leaving the White House, Jimmy Carter founded the Carter Center in 1982, to promote development, health and conflict resolution around the world.
A tireless traveler, he is found everywhere: in Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, and even East Timor. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, notably for “his decades of tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts.”