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President Jimmy Carter recovering after surgery to relieve pressure on brain from falls

The 95-year-old former president was admitted to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Monday for the surgery that was done Tuesday morning.
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Former President Jimmy Carter was recovering at a Georgia hospital Tuesday after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain caused by bleeding from recent falls, The Carter Center said.

"There are no complications from the surgery," the center said in a statement Tuesday. "President and Mrs. Carter thank everyone for the many well-wishes they have received."

Carter, who turned 95 in October, becoming the first U.S. president to reach that milestone, was admitted to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Monday for the procedure.

In October, he fractured his pelvis when he fell at his home, the center said at the time. The fracture was called minor.

He had also fallen earlier in the month and received stitches above his brow. He was reported to be feeling fine after that Oct. 6 incident at his home.

In May, Carter broke his hip and underwent surgery after falling at his home in Plains, Georgia, as he was leaving to go turkey hunting.

The 39th president said in August 2015 that he had been diagnosed with cancer and would undergo treatment for several melanoma spots on his brain and liver. Previously, a mass had been removed from his liver that was melanoma.

He said months later that an MRI scan showed his cancer was gone.

Carter was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize and has spent his post-presidential years as a highly visible advocate around the world for human rights and the poor.

Soon after his fall Oct. 6, Carter appeared at a Habitat for Humanity project.

The Rev. Tony Lowden, Carter's pastor, said the former president was hospitalized Monday after "a rough day."

"We just need the whole country to be in prayer for him," Lowden told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

The Maranatha Baptist Church said in a statement on Facebook that the former president would not be teaching Sunday school this week, and it asked people to pray for him and his family.