Former President Jimmy Carter undergoes surgery after breaking hip

The 39th president of the U.S. was set to go turkey hunting near his home.

May 13, 2019, 4:32 PM

Former President Jimmy Carter has undergone surgery after he fell and broke his hip.

Carter, 94, fell at his home in Plains, Georgia, Monday morning as he was leaving to go turkey hunting, The Carter Center announced.

The doctor who performed the surgery at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia, said the procedure was successful, according to the statement.

PHOTO: Former President Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, Gro Harlem Brundtland and other members of the Elders group attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence, outside Moscow, on April 29, 2015.
Former President Jimmy Carter, former UN chief Kofi Annan, former Prime Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland and other members of the Elders group attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence, outside Moscow, on April 29, 2015.
Sergei Karpukhin/AFP/Getty Images

The 39th president of the United States is now recovering "comfortably" in the hospital alongside his wife, Rosalynn. His main concern is returning to the task he set off to complete this morning, according to the statement.

"President Carter said his main concern is that turkey season ends this week, and he has not reached his limit," The Carter Center joked. "He hopes the State of Georgia will allow him to rollover the unused limit to next year."

Carter has faced some serious health concerns in recent years.

PHOTO: Former President Jimmy Carter holds hands with his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, as they work with other volunteers at a work project with Habitat for Humanity, Aug. 27, 2018, in Mishawaka, Ind.
Former President Jimmy Carter holds hands with his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, as they work with other volunteers on site during the first day of the weeklong Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, their 35th work project with Habitat for Humanity, Aug. 27, 2018, in Mishawaka, Ind.
Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP

In 2015, Carter was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma that was detected in his liver and spread to his brain. Carter announced about six months after the diagnosis that he no longer needed cancer treatment due in part to a groundbreaking medication that trains the immune system to fight cancer tumors.

Two years later, Carter was hospitalized for dehydration while building homes with Habitat for Humanity in Canada. The former president was back at the work site the next day after he was discharged.

Carter is now the oldest living former president in U.S. history, surpassing George H.W. Bush in March.

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