NEWSJimmy Carter, 99, Is No Longer Awake Every Day, His Grandson Reveals in Heartbreaking Update
June 11 2024, Published 11:02 a.m. ET
It looks like Jimmy Carter's final days are near, according to his grandson Jason Carter.
In a new interview with Southern Living, Jason shared more insight into what the 99-year-old is going through — 16 months into hospice care.
Jason revealed there's "really been no change" in his grandfather's health in the past few years.
“After 77 years of marriage… I just think none of us really understand what it’s like for him right now,” Jason said, referring to his romance with Rosalynn Carter, who died in November at 96 years old. “We have to embrace that fact, that there’s things about the spirit that you just can’t understand.”
Rosalynn Carter died in November 2023.
Jason, 48, also noted that his grandfather is no longer awake every day. "[He's] experiencing the world as best he can as he continues through this process," he said.
As OK! previously reported, Jason gave an update about a month ago while speaking at the 28th Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, stating the former president "is doing OK."
“He really is, I think, coming to the end that, as I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him,” he continued. “And there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end. And I think he has been there in that space.”
Jason recalled visiting his grandfather recently, where they watched the Atlanta Braves together. “‘People ask me how you’re doing and I say, I don’t know’ and he said, ‘Well, I don’t know myself,’" Jason recalled of their conversation.
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Jimmy Carter made an appearance at his wife's funeral.
Jimmy entered hospice care at his Plains, Ga., home in February 2023. He did come out of hiding when he was seen at Rosalynn's funeral, where he appeared frail in his wheelchair.
“My grandmother’s passing was a difficult moment for all of us, including my grandfather,” Jason admitted, adding that his family feels very grateful for all the kind words.
“The outpouring of love and support that we as a family received from the people in this room and from the rest of the world was so remarkable and meaningful for us and really turned this process into a celebration,” he told the audience.
Jimmy Carter is 99 years old.
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Jason also discussed how Jimmy's home, which he and Rosalynn lived in since 1961, means so much to him.
“It is such an American story... to go to Plains and see the house that my grandparents built and lived in for all their time and came home to after being president,” he said. “It really tells a remarkable story of what people can be brought forward by our politics. It is a really incredible story to go from that little town to the White House and back again.”
“That was the part that we’ll remember the most, because the connection to that town and to that small community in rural Georgia, really is the most important thing in their lives,” he says.
