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Jimmy Carter’s youngest son Jeff has been quietly living with Parkinson’s for a while, the family revealed just days after his father turned 100.
Jeff Carter, the third child of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter and the former first couple’s youngest son, has had the disorder for a while but has refrained from sharing it publicly, People first reported.
The 72-year-old has known about his diagnosis for some time, Jeff’s 40-year-old son Josh told the magazine.
“He’s not very open about it because he doesn’t want to be the face of anything,” Josh told the outlet. “It’s just, Parkinson’s sucks. It’s a hard disease. It’s a hard diagnosis.”
While Jeff has supported his 100-year-old father, who has been in hospice care since February 2023, his own medical needs have restricted some of his visits, Josh explained.
But Josh emphasized that his father is still able to live on his own.
“We know that [Parkinson’s] is a one-way street,” he said. “My dad is currently living by himself, he’s able to take care of himself, he’s independent, but he built his house knowing that one day he’s going to need more help.”
In the meantime, Jeff has relied on deep brain stimulation therapy to help manage his movement, a common complication associated with Parkinson’s.
“He can literally control his brain with his iPhone, which is wild,” Josh told People. “Without his therapy, he’s basically not able to do anything. And then when he turns his therapy back on with his phone, then he can stand up, he can walk around, he can hold a drink without spilling it, he can eat, he can communicate. It’s a night and day shift.”
The therapy has allowed him to have more “high quality” time with his family, Josh said: “He’s able to play with my kids, he’s able to play with his other grandkids.”
Jeff and his family have been plagued by tragedy as of late. His wife, Annette Davis Carter, died in September 2021 at the age of 68, according to an obituary. The pair had three sons together — the middle of whom, Jeremy, suddenly died in 2015 at just 28 years old.
Jeff’s mother and Jimmy’s wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, died in November 2023 shortly after she had entered hospice care. She was 96 years old.
The former president just celebrated his milestone 100th birthday on October 1. While he is no longer awake every day and “can’t talk on the phone” anymore, according to his grandson Jason, recent politics have energized him.
The 39th president recently started “talking about politics again” after Kamala Harris took over the Democratic ticket, according to Jason.
In August, Carter reportedly told his son Chip: “I’m only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris.” Early voting in his home state of Georgia begins on October 15.
