Former president Jimmy Carter hospitalized after 2nd fall at home this month

PLAINS, Ga. — Former President Jimmy Carter is recovering from his third fall this year.

Carter suffered a minor pelvic fracture Monday night at his home in Plains and was taken to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center for observation.

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Channel 2's Richard Elliot went to Plains on Tuesday, where he found several people who said they felt they had to drive to the president's home town when they heard what happened.

“I heard on the news that President Carter had taken a fall,” said Julian Crisp, who told Elliot that she was on holiday from Australia and was taking a driving tour of the United States.

Crisp said she made a detour to Plains on her way to New Orleans, to give her respects to the 39th President of the United States.

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“I thought he was a good president. Good luck,” Crisp said.

It’s hard to go anywhere in Plains without meeting someone who knows the former president.

Bobby Salter runs the general store and grew up with Carter and his brother Billy. He told Elliot he’s not really worried about this latest fall.

“Not yet. He’s still in pretty good shape. I mean, of course now, you don’t even know what causes people to fall, but he’s still in pretty good shape,” Salter said.

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"There are probably 30 million older Americans who fall each year. About 300,000 of those folks have some sort of injury.  About 30,000 of them, it's the cause of their deaths. So, it's a very serious problem," said Geriatrician Dr. Ted Johnson from Emory University Hospital.

This isn't Carter's first fall this year. He fell on Oct. 6, which left him with a black eye and multiple stitches.

That didn't keep him from attending the kick-off to a Habitat for Humanity the next day in Nashville.

[READ: Former President Jimmy Carter suffers fall ahead of Habitat build]

Kim Carriger said she drove down to Plains from Newnan with her husband and mother-in-law. She told Elliot that she had been checking her phone to get the latest news on Carter’s condition.

“Hope that he has a speedy recovery and good luck to them all for a speedy recovery,” Carriger said.

Carter’s church in Plains, Maranatha Baptist Church, went on Facebook Tuesday to say the former president won’t be teaching his Sunday school class this week.

A statement put out by the Carter Center in Atlanta said he is looking forward to recovering at home.

Cox Media Group