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Former President Jimmy Carter recovering after brain surgery

ATLANTA — Former President Jimmy Carter will remain at Emory University Hospital under observation after having surgery Tuesday morning to relieve pressure on his brain following three falls in recent months.

Those close to the former president told Channel 2 political reporter Richard Elliot that the surgery went off without a hitch.

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What we don’t know is how long he will remain at Emory.

Shortly following the surgery, the Carter Center released a statement, saying:

“Former President Jimmy Carter is recovering at Emory University Hospital following surgery this morning to relieve pressure on his brain from a subdural hematoma. There are no complications from the surgery.”

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That news went over well in his hometown of Plains.

“He’s good! In ICU today and home by Thursday or Friday,” one resident told Elliot via text message Tuesday.

That hope might be overly optimistic, but Carter has shown great resiliency in the past.

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Channel 2 Action News was with President Carter just last week as he was back teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.

He taught about the trials and tribulations of Job -- appropriate given that he had fallen and fractured his pelvis just days earlier.

The 95-year-old former president also needed a complete hip replacement after a fall in May, and he required 14 stitches after another fall last month.

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After both incidents, he was up and out of the hospital in a very short amount of time.

The Carter Center’s statement went on to say, “President and Mrs. Carter thank everyone for the many well-wishes they have received.”

The Carter Center said the former president will not be teaching Sunday school in Plains this weekend.