Dr. Pierre Crouse, right, was in Haiti demonstrating vasectomies and circumcision for local doctors when actors Sean Penn (centre in white shirt) and Charlize Theron (black hat) joined in to observe.
A familiar face to many Drumheller residents had a brush with some Hollywood star power in the least expected place.
Dr. Pierre Crouse, and his wife Dr. Rina Strauss at one time practiced in Drumheller. Today Dr. Crouse specializes in vasectomies and circumcisions with a practice in Calgary.
Dr. Crouse and a colleague from Vancouver were asked to go to Haiti by Professor Jeffery Klausner, an infectious disease specialist from UCLA to help train doctors to perform circumcisions to help prevent HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. Professor Klausner was contacted by the First Lady of Haiti to look at disease prevention.
“With circumcisions, when men get older and sexually active, it cuts way down on the incidence all kinds diseases, especially HIV and reduces the rate of penile cancers and penile infections,” said Crouse.
From Monday, November 24 to Wednesday November 26, the team performed about 100 circumcisions to train local doctors in the surgical techniques.
“Hopefully they can carry on and once they get comfortable the can train mo of their own surgeons,” said Crouse.
On the Tuesday, Sean Penn and Charlize Theron arrived and observed him work. They spent close to an hour watching and learning.
Sean Penn has become very involved in he rebuilding of Haiti following the earthquake in 2010 and he is a founder of the J/P Haitian Relief Organization. Among one of his key aims is to provide quality healthcare.
Crouse said Theron, like himself, is South African, and she took great interest in the procedure. She has a foundation in the Eastern Cape to reduce AIDS and South African traditions surrounding circumcisions are very dangerous and often cause more harm than good, leaving young boys infected or mutilated. He said Theron is interested in taking on such a program, and he would be interested in supporting her efforts if she decided to support such a program.
Dr. Pierre Crouse and Charlize Theron pose for a quick photo.
It was rewarding experience for Dr. Crouse.
“Maybe in 10 or 20 years from now there might be 20 surgeons doing it on all the kids and could save hundreds or thousands of lives, but it is a little drop in a big bucket,” he said.
