The doctor returned her cold-call e-mail, and suggested she go Rhode Island Hospital, where Dr. Damian Dupuy performed the ablation procedure.

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Sharkey, a sophomore member of Brown's basketball team, suffered serious head injuries and has been in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital.

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The smaller the lesion, the better recovery is expected in this way, said Dr. Bradford Thompson, director of the Division of Neurocritical Care at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

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