Jimmy Carter Returns to Church After Brain Surgery

Paula Liu
By Paula Liu
January 1, 2020US News
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Jimmy Carter Returns to Church After Brain Surgery
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, left, outside Maranatha Baptist Church, on Nov. 3, 2019. (John Amis/AP)

The former president Jimmy Carter visited his hometown church for the first time on Sunday, Dec. 29, after undergoing brain surgery, according to multiple reports.

As reported by Fox 8, Carter was seated next to his wife at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, where he was seen praying in public for the first time since having his brain surgery back in November 2019. Boston Globe wrote that more than 70 were present during the service on Sunday.

According to the Carter Center, the Former President was released from Emory University Hospital on Nov. 27. He had been admitted on Nov. 11 for a procedure to relieve pressure in his brain that was caused by a fall. Following his release, he spent time recovering at his home in Plains, the statement read.

Maranatha Baptist Church issued a statement to the churchgoers regarding Carter’s health on Dec. 2, writing, “although [Carter] has been released from the hospital from his surgery, we want to make sure he takes the full surgery recovery time before teaching again. For this reason, his Sunday School lessons on December 8, and December 22, 2019, will be canceled. His niece, Kim Fuller, will deliver inspiring messages throughout the month of December.”

He was admitted for more surgery at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia, to treat a urinary tract infection. He was released from there on the afternoon of Dec. 4, according to a statement from the Carter Center.

Fox 8 reported that Carter had attended Maranatha Baptist Church since he stepped down from the presidency back in 1981, and then a few years following that, he began teaching at the church’s Sunday School. Since then, he had delivered more than 600 lessons at the church, according to the news outlet.

As previously reported, the president had suffered from several health complications over the years, including a few falls this year. According to a statement from the Carter Center, he suffered a fall on May 13 at his residence in Plains, Georgia, shortly before the start of a turkey hunt. He was admitted to the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center to repair a broken hip resulting from the fall and received a hip-replacement surgery.

On Oct. 6, Carter Carter hit his head on a sharp ledge at his residence, according to Fox 8. As a result of the fall and injury, the former president ended up with a bruised left eye and needed 14 stitches. Carter had another fall on the evening of Oct. 21, according to the Carter Center. In an issued statement, the center stated that Carter was taken to the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center to treat a minor pelvic fracture.

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