Jimmy Carter Is 'Okay' After Dehydration Scare At Habitat For Humanity Site

Enlarge this image toggle caption Stacia Franz/Manitoba government via AP Stacia Franz/Manitoba government via AP

Jimmy Carter says he is "okay" after being hospitalized for dehydration Thursday, according to Habitat for Humanity. Jonathan Reckford, the home-building philanthropy's CEO, says the 92-year-old former president was on site in Winnipeg, Canada, when he became "dehydrated working in the hot sun."

"As a precaution," the Carter Center says in a statement, "he was transported to St. Boniface General Hospital for rehydration," where he is together with his wife, Rosalynn.

"He encourages everyone to stay hydrated and keep building," Reckford adds.

According to Habitat for Humanity, the prominent nonagenarian had come to Canada with his wife planning to build 150 homes across the country. The Carters have been working with the organization for more than three decades, and had a hand in the building, renovation and repair of "more than 4,000 homes," according to its website.

Roughly 18 months ago, Carter announced that he was free of cancer, a melanoma that had spread as far as his liver and brain. As NPR's Eyder Peralta noted at the time, he broke the good news at his Sunday School class in Georgia.

Even a month before that announcement, though, Carter made clear in an interview with NPR that he's been staying industrious.

"I'm still, except for making overseas trips, I'm staying just about as busy as I ever did."