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Former President Jimmy Carter will turn 99 on October 1, seven months after he announced he would end medical treatment as he was no longer recovering. VOA correspondent Kane Farabaugh reports an outpouring of admiration and congratulations for the former president, a one-time peanut farmer and Georgia governor who spent years after leaving the White House advocating for peace, fight neglected tropical diseases.
Seven months after announcing he would stop medical treatment as he was no longer recovering, former President Jimmy Carter, accompanied by his wife, Rosalynn, made a rare appearance at a peanut festival in their hometown of Plains. of Georgia.
Participation in the parade paved the way for a week of celebrations for Jimmy Carter's 99th birthday on October 1. Few expected America's longest serving president to reach this day.
"It is extraordinary considering that he was in the last days of his life. I think he's one of the strongest people to ever serve as president," said Reed Elliotte, a Kentucky resident.
Author Jonathan Alter, who wrote Jimmy Carter's biography, "His Very Best," says the Carters are spending their last days as they spent the rest of their lives. of life.
"Do as much as you can, for as long as you can, for as long as you can," he says.
Mr. Alter adds that when it was announced that Mr. Carter was in his final days, as well as his wife Rosalynn Carter's battle with dementia, the couple created an opportunity for others to learn.
"It was very intentional of them to do something good for the world by sending a message that you don't have to back down from these end-of-life decisions and that there are other options for those who are ready to give up," he says. he.
While the Carters have stepped down from the day-to-day operations of the international nonprofit they founded in 1982, The Carter Center's executive director, Paige Alexander, says that with thousands of staff and volunteers around the world, their work continues uninterrupted. in support of peace and the fight against neglected tropical diseases.
"The last time we talked, he didn't ask me about politics. He didn't ask me about anything other than fighting diseases in Guinea," she says.
In a press conference in 2015, announcing that he was facing cancer, a disease from which he successfully recovered, Mr. Carter had expressed his greatest wish before death.
"I want the last guinea worm to die before me," says Ms. Alexander.
When the Carter Center began efforts to prevent the parasitic infection, known as Guinea worm, in the 1980s there were 3.5 million cases in 21 countries. Ms Alexander says the world is closer than ever to eradicating the neglected tropical disease.
"We have reached people in two countries in six cases, so we are very close."
"When I spoke to him one last time to wish him a happy birthday in advance, he said, 'I'm not quite sure how happy I feel to be turning 99.'
Ms Alexander says the former president is aware of the continued support and admiration he enjoys.
"I think that might be that special thing that keeps him alive. That, and peanut butter cake."
The special treat, which Ms. Alexander says the Carters always enjoy together, sometimes surrounded by family, in the small community they've called home since the 1920s.
"They are exactly where they want to be, together, and in their hometown in Plains, Georgia," concludes Mrs. Alexander./ VOA
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