Jimmy Carter condition: ‘No change,’ says his grandson

(NewsNation) — Former President Jimmy Carter has been in hospice care for 15 months, and his grandson says there is “really no change” in his condition.

Jason Carter, the oldest of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s 22 grandchildren, updated the former president’s status for Southern Living magazine. He said the 99-year-old is “experiencing the world as best he can as he continues through this process.”

The average hospice stay is around 70 days, although for many it may only be a couple of weeks. Carter entered hospice care in February of 2023.

“God had other plans,” Jason Carter said about his grandfather unexpectedly hanging on for so long. Rosalynn Carter died last November. The two were married for 77 years.

“After 77 years of marriage… I just think none of us really understand what it’s like for him right now,” Jason Carter said.

The younger Carter says his grandfather isn’t awake every day, but still talks to his relatives when he is awake.

Jason Carter recently visited his grandfather, who is receiving care at his modest home in his tiny hometown of Plains, Georgia. He says the two watched an Atlanta Braves game and talked about The Carter Center, as well as the family.

“I said: ‘Pawpaw, you know, when people ask me how you’re doing, I say, ‘Honestly, I don’t know.’ And he kind of smiled and he said, ‘I don’t know, myself.’”

“It was pretty sweet,” he said.