CLEVELAND (Reuters) – Former President Jimmy Carter was rushed to a hospital yesterday after developing an upset stomach during a flight to Cleveland but planned to resume a book-signing tour today, the Carter Center said.
Carter, who turns 86 on Friday, has been active in international diplomacy since serving as president from 1977 to 1981, particularly in intervening on behalf of Americans detained abroad and as an observer of foreign elections.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Carter was “resting comfortably,” said a statement by the Atlanta-based Carter Center.
“At his doctor’s recommendation, President Carter will remain overnight to rest at Metro Health Hospital in Cleveland and plans to resume his book tour tomorrow (Wednesday) in Washington, DC,” the Center said in a later statement.
The airport’s rescue and fire fighting units were dispatched to meet a distressed passenger aboard an inbound flight, said Cleveland airport spokeswoman Jacqueline Mayo, adding that paramedics then transferred Carter to hospital.
The hospital’s emergency room was cleared of non-essential personnel before he arrived, local media said.
Carter had been due to appear at midday at the Joseph-Beth Booksellers in the Cleveland suburb of Lyndhurst to sign copies of his new book White House Diary but disappointed scores of people who lined up to see him.
