Colleen Keane was 59 at the time, a trauma patient at Rhode Island Hospital a day after a head-on car accident. Just before midnight, the staff had her drink fluid for a scan to diagnose abdominal pain.

Suddenly, they woke her at 2 a.m.

They told her it was an emergency – she needed surgery immediately. Without it, one of the doctors said, she would be in a grave crisis within hours. The scan showed that her intestine had been completely severed.

But the operation demanded a skill level beyond that of the doctors on duty.

Everyone knew they needed Dr. Chuck Adams .

They alerted him at his home, and Adams rushed in, saving Colleen Keane’s life.

For Adams, it was not an exceptional moment.

He has likely done thousands of emergency operations during his 21-year tenure here as Rhode

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