Jimmy Carter hoped to outlive the Guinea worm — and he came achingly close. Carter helped lead a decades-long campaign against the parasitic infection.

I would like to see Guinea worm completely eradicated before I die,” Carter said at a news conference in 2015. “I’d like for the last Guinea worm to die before I do. I think right now we have 11 cases.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter spent decades waging war against an ancient parasite. Carter has tried to rid the Earth of Guinea worm, which infects people who drink unclean water tainted with larva.