Former President Jimmy Carter has been selected as the 2017 Kcancer Hero for his fight against cancer and for his services to the U.S. and the world.
On August 3, 2015, former President Carter underwent elective surgery to remove “a small mass” on his liver. After the operation, it was discovered that the cancer had metastasized and melanoma had been found in his liver and brain. He underwent more surgery, radiation, and immunotherapy to fight the disease.
Immunotherapy is the state-of-the-art treatment for the type of melanoma Carter had. The drug used for the treatment is called pembrolizumab (Keytruda), which stimulates the immune system to target microscopic areas of cancer that might be elsewhere in the body. Pembrolizumab influences two genes, PD-1 (programmed death 1) and PD-L1 (programmed death ligand 1), which can interact to enable some cancer cells to avoid immune system detection and destruction. The drug prevents that interaction, leaving the immune system free to attack and destroy tumor cells. On December 6, 2015, Carter announced that his cancer was gone and he was cancer-free.
Since his recovery from the cancer treatment, the former president remains active in public life, continues teaching Sunday school classes, and participates in Habitat for Humanity activities. On July 13, 2017, the 94-year-old Carter was admitted to a hospital in Winnipeg, Canada, after becoming dehydrated while working outdoors for Habitat for Humanity.
Throughout his life, the former president has served our country and the world extensively. Here are some examples of his activities:
He served as a Georgia state senator from 1963 to 1967. As a two-term state senator, Carter earned a reputation as tough and independent politician, curbing wasteful spending and steadfastly supporting civil rights.[1]
He served as governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. During his term he called for an end to segregation, increased the number of black officials in state government by 25 percent, and promoted education and prison reform. Carter’s signature accomplishment as governor was slashing and streamlining the enormous state bureaucracy into a lean and efficient machine.1
He served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. Jimmy Carter will not go down in history as one of America’s most effective presidents. However, because of his tireless work both before and since his presidency in support of equality, human rights and the alleviation of human suffering, Carter will go down as one of the nation’s great social activists.1
He established the Carter Center in 1982. Through the Center, he initiated monitoring of international elections, seeks international peace, and fights diseases in the Third World.[2]
The Carter Center has become a pioneer in the field of election observation, monitoring 107 national elections to help ensure that the results reflect the will of the people. Beyond elections, the Center seeks to deepen democracy by nurturing full citizen participation in public policy-making and by helping to establish government institutions that bolster the rule of law, fair administration of justice, access to information, and government transparency.
He champions human rights all over the world and clearly understands that a culture of respect for human rights is crucial to permanent peace. The Carter Center supports the efforts of human-rights activists at the grassroots, while also working to advance national and international human-rights laws that uphold the dignity and worth of each individual. When democracy backslides or formal diplomacy fails, the Center offers conflict resolution expertise. It has furthered avenues for peace in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. Since 1982, the Carter Center has shown that creating a world at peace is a very possible journey.
The Carter Center is a leader in the eradication and elimination of diseases, fighting six preventable diseases – Guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, and malaria — in Hispaniola through health education and simple, low-cost methods. The Center also strives to improve maternal and child health in Sudan and Nigeria and improve access to mental health care globally.
In 1999, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor for a U.S. civilian.
In 2002, former President Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work “to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development” through The Carter Center.[3]
As a cancer survivor, former President Carter fights cancer fearlessly and continues his services to people all over the world. He is definitely a hero and a model for all of us, particularly cancer patients.
References
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter. Retrieved on December 31, 2017
[2] https://www.cartercenter.org/. Retrieved on December 31, 2017
[3] https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2002/. Retrieved on December 31, 2017
