Six days after an avalanche buried ten soldiers of the Indian Army at the world’s highest battlefield in Siachen, one of them was found alive on Monday night, buried under 35-feet of ice and snow at an altitude of over 20,000 feet.
Adding yet another engrossing tale to the list of survivals in natural mishaps across the world, 150 members of the Army’s rescue teams armed with thermal imagers, radars, two sniffer dogs, and above all ‘will power’ managed to extricate the lone survivor — lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad of 19 Madras Regiment.
However, the rest of the soldiers were not so lucky and nine bodies were also recovered from the snow. The nation prayed for the soldier’s recovery as he was shifted to the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi for specialised medical care in a critical condition, having gone into a coma.
A health bulletin released by the hospital said the next 24 to 48 hours will be crucial for lance Naik Koppad.
“lance Naik Hanama-nthappa Koppad is currently comatose and continues to be in shock with low blood pressure,” the first medical bulletin said.
However, despite his grim condition, his family’s joy knew no bounds. “It is a rebirth for all of us,” said Mahadevi, Koppad’s wife, with a visible sense of relief as his miraculous survival.
lance Naik Koppad is a native of Dharwad district in Karnataka. Mahadevi and Koppad have been married for four years and have a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
Mahadevi said the family was devestated at after it came to know of the tragedy, but the news of his survival brought smiles back on their faces.
“We were going through a painful ordeal after the avalanche struck...The news of his survival brought smiles back on our faces. We were all crying and had almost lost hope. I didn’t know what to do. I have a one-and-half-year-old daughter,” she said.
Soon after his arrival in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Army chief General Dalbir Singh, visited the Army hospital and interacted with the team of doctors.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar also visited the Hospital and commended the braveheart for his indomitable mental robustness and his refusal to give in to harsh elements of nature.
While acknowledging the super human effort of the brave soldier, tweeted, “No words are enough to describe the endurance & indomitable spirit of lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad. He is an outstanding soldier.”
A team of doctors is attending to lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad. We are all hoping & praying for the best.
Fortunately, the soldier has no cold exposure-related frostbite or bone injuries. The soldier’s kidney and liver are not working. He is being given fluids and drugs so that his blood pressure increases.
“On recovery lance Naik Hanumanthappa was found to be conscious but drowsy and disoriented,” the bulletin said.
He was one among 10 soldiers who were swept away by an avalanche in Northern Siachen glacier in the wee hours of February 3.
Even after expressing regret and issuing a press statement claiming bleak chances of survival of soldiers, the rescue teams of the Indian Army worked tirelessly to track down the trapped Armymen.
On Monday when army rescuers extricated lance Naik Hanamanthappa from his fibre-reinforced hut, buried under the snow, he was in a state of shock.
The team of doctors present at the site revived him to ensure his survival. He was flown out from the site on Tuesday morning by helicopter along with a Medical Specialist to the Siachen base camp, from where he was brought to the Thois airbase.
He was then transferred to Army’s Research and Referral hospital in Delhi by a fixed wing aircraft of the IAF along with a Critical Care Specialist of the IAF and Medical Specialist from the Siachen Base Camp.
The news of his miraculous rescue was shared by the Indian Army late Monday night. The GOC-in-C of Udhampur based Northern Command headquarters, lt-Gen DS Hooda in a Press statement said, “lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad of 19 Madras Regiment was rescued from the site on Monday”.
The Indian Army had deployed over 150 jawans of Siachen battle school (SBS) along with sophisticated equipment to carry out the rescue operations in adverse weather conditions.
Army had also deployed specialised earth penetrating radars to locate the trapped soldiers. Sniffer dogs were also pressed in to service to aid foot soldiers.
Defence spokesman based in Northern Command Headquarters in Udhampur also confirmed that bodies of nine soldiers -- including a Junior Commissioned Officer -- were also retrieved by the rescue teams. The mortal remains, after due formalities, will be flown to their home towns as soon as possible.