Jimmy Carter breaks hip on the way to go turkey hunting
94-year-old resting comfortably at home, according to Carter Center
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter broke his hip Monday, but has had successful surgery and is recovering comfortably, a spokesperson for the Carter Center says.
The 94-year-old was on his way to go turkey hunting, Deanna Congileo said in a statement. She said that he was treated in Americus, Ga., near his home in Plains, and that his wife, Rosalynn, was with him.
"President Carter said his main concern is that turkey season ends this week, and he has not reached his limit. He hopes the State of Georgia will allow him to roll over the unused limit to next year," Congileo wrote.
In a Tweet, U.S. President Donald Trump wished Carter a speedy recovery.
Wishing former President Jimmy Carter a speedy recovery from his hip surgery earlier today. He was in such good spirits when we spoke last month - he will be fine!
—@realDonaldTrumpIn March, Carter became the longest-living chief executive in U.S. history, exceeding the lifespan of former president George H.W. Bush, who died Nov. 30 at the age of 94 years, 171 days.
The milestone came despite a cancer diagnosis more than three years earlier. Carter disclosed in 2015 that he had melanoma that had spread to his liver and had also been found on his brain. He received treatment for seven months until scans showed no sign of the disease.
At the time he revealed the cancer, he said he felt "perfectly at ease with whatever comes."
"I've had a wonderful life," he said. "I've had thousands of friends, I've had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence."
Carter, a Democrat who served as Georgia's governor beginning in 1971, was elected president in November 1976, narrowly defeating Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford, the former congressman who served out the end of Richard Nixon's term.
He served just one term as president.
He and Rosalynn founded the Carter Center in Atlanta in 1982 to focus on global human rights issues.
The centre has monitored elections around the world and worked to resolve conflicts and eradicate disease, including guinea worm.
The former president and first lady still live in Plains, a town of about 750 where they were born, raised and married.
A devout Christian, Carter regularly teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church, drawing hundreds of visitors to Plains for each session.
With files from CBC News