Former President Jimmy Carter took a nasty spill in his home in Plains, Georgia on Sunday. He had to get stitches above his left eye and it left a painful looking bruise.
That made his return to his charity all the more impressive. Instead of taking a day or two (or three) to rest, the 39th president of the United States grabbed his power drill and joined Habitat for Humanity in Nashville, Tennessee to help build a new home.
WATCH: Former President Carter, the oldest living former president in US history, helps lead a build of Habitat for Humanity homes in Nashville one day after falling at his home and receiving stitches above his eye.https://t.co/CB1TSLeaMh pic.twitter.com/oh0jiv4IXY
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 7, 2019
President Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, have been Habitat volunteers for over three decades. The house in Nashville is his 36th project with the Christian nonprofit organization. In 1984, they introduced the Carter Work Project, which has turned into a weeklong event that takes place in a different part of the world each year.
The organization, as you can imagine, speaks highly of the couple.
Throughout their involvement with the Carter Work Project, President and Mrs. Carter have become tireless advocates, active fundraisers, and some of our best hands-on construction volunteers. Additionally, they have rallied thousands of volunteers and even celebrities, helping Habitat for Humanity to becoming internationally recognized for its work to build decent and affordable housing. Inspiring millions, President and Mrs. Carter have worked alongside 103,000 volunteers in 14 countries to build, renovate and repair 4,331 homes. They have also made quite an impression on thousands of Habitat homeowners and volunteers.
Carter has shown some impressive resilience in the past few years. In 2015, he was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. It was a shocking and grim diagnosis, particularly for someone in their nineties. Yet, months later, Carter announced he had overcome the illness thanks to a combination of surgery, radiation, and a new immunotherapy drug.
He celebrated his 95th birthday last Tuesday, making him the oldest living U.S. president in history.