Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was hospitalized on Monday and underwent surgery at Emory University Hospital on Tuesday morning to relieve pressure on his brain caused by a subdural hematoma.
Harvard Health Publishing describes a subdural hematoma as a collection of blood between the brain and outside layers of tissue that occurs after the bursting of a blood vessel near the brain’s surface. The Carter Center reported that there were no complications with the surgery.
Carter told his church congregation on Nov. 3 that he was “completely at ease with death.”
The Carter Center reported that the hematoma was a result of Carter’s recent falls.
Carter has received treatment for a variety of illnesses over the past five years. In May, Carter underwent surgery after breaking his hip in his Plains, Ga. house, and in early October fell again and received stitches on his face. Later that month, Carter fell a third time at his home and suffered a minor pelvic fracture. In 2015, Carter was treated for cancer at the Emory Winship Cancer Institute, where he was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma and given only weeks to live. He recovered in a matter of months after strict treatment.
Carter, who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, is a University Distinguished Professor at Emory and speaks to first-year students every fall. He was granted tenure this June after three decades of teaching at Emory.
In 1982, he opened the Carter Center, which works on democractic and human rights issues.
Carter remains very involved in his Plains, Ga. community and teaches Sunday school every week. Beyond that, he has worked extensively with Habitat for Humanity and written 32 books, according to the Carter Center.
