Jimmy Carter returns to Winnipeg construction site
Dehydration sent former president to hospital Thursday
WINNIPEG — Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter was back at a Habitat for Humanity work site Friday, a day after he was hospitalized for dehydration while working with the group to build homes for needy families in Canada.
A smiling Carter showed up in blue jeans and a work shirt to the site in the St. James neighbourhood of Winnipeg, where hundreds of Habitat for Humanity volunteers joined the former president and his wife, Rosalynn, to build 25 homes.
Carter, 92, was discharged earlier in the morning from St. Boniface General Hospital where he was treated “as a precaution” for dehydration, Carter spokesperson Deanna Congileo said.
“He and Mrs. Carter extend their appreciation for the many well-wishes he received worldwide,” Congileo said.
Carter attended a “devotional” service and then left to spend the day resting. He and Rosalynn were expected at a closing ceremony later at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.
Habitat for Humanity, which has had a long association with the Carters, is constructing 150 homes this year for people in need in Canada to celebrate the country’s 150th anniversary.
Carter, who served as president from 1977 to 1981, was in Edmonton earlier this week helping Habitat, which builds affordable housing for low-income earners.
Carter had been working for about 90 minutes Thursday when he went to sit down in a chair, the Winnipeg Free Press reported. He appeared to wobble, so Secret Service agents led him to his motorcade. He was treated by paramedics who took him away in an ambulance, without using lights or siren, the newspaper said.
This week’s project building houses in several Canadian communities is the 34th time the Carters have pitched in on Habitat projects, lending a hand and their name to promote the work.
Carter was diagnosed with melanoma that spread to his brain in 2015, but said in March 2016 that he no longer needed treatment. Carter continued to volunteer for Habitat while being treated for cancer, working alongside volunteers at a home in Memphis, Tenn., in November 2015.