07/29/2026
On October 6, 2019, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, then 95 years old, suffered a painful fall at his home in Plains, Georgia. He hit his forehead on a sharp edge, leaving a deep cut that required 14 stitches above his left eyebrow. The accident also left him with a noticeable black eye.
This was not the first major health challenge Carter had faced. In 2015, he was diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain. After receiving radiation treatment and immunotherapy, doctors announced by December that the cancer had cleared from his brain. Earlier in May 2019, he had also broken his hip in another fall.
Many people would have chosen to rest after such an injury, but Carter had other plans. That same evening, he traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend the opening ceremony of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project. It was his 36th annual build with Habitat for Humanity, a project he had supported every year since 1984.
Standing before the crowd with a bandage covering his forehead, Carter explained what had happened. He said he had fallen, needed 14 stitches, and had a black eye. But he also said his number one priority was coming to Nashville to help build homes.
The very next day, October 7, Carter joined hundreds of volunteers on the construction site. Country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood also took part in the project, which aimed to build 21 homes in a Nashville neighborhood. His wife, Rosalynn Carter, then 92, worked beside him throughout, showing their lifelong commitment to helping others.
