lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad’s grim battle for life after surviving a six-day ordeal buried under 35-feet of ice and snow in Siachen glacier has moved the entire nation, so much so that a housewife from lakhimpur Kheri on Wednesday offered to donate a kidney while an ex- sailor of the Indian Navy based in Mumbai offered any organ to save the brave soldier.
Koppad is still in a coma at the Army Research and Referral Hospital (R&R) here and the next 24 hours are crucial as the soldier’s kidneys and liver are dysfunctional which is further complicated by the fact that he is suffering from pneumonia.
Meanwhile, the bodies of nine other soldiers of Madras Regiment who died in the avalanche could not be brought down to the Siachen base camp due to a raging blizzard that is hampering rescue efforts at the world’s highest battlefield.
If the weather clears up, the Army is hopeful of bringing the bodies to the base camp located at a height of 11,000 feet on Thursday with the help of Army helicopters, officials said on Wednesday.
Incidentally, the ill-fated post, which was buried
under tons of snow on February 3, is positioned at more than 19,600 feet.
With the Army describing Koppad’s condition as critical, a housewife from lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday offered to donate
a kidney.
“It was being broadcast in the news channels that his condition is extremely critical as his liver and kidneys are not functioning properly. So I want to donate a kidney for this brave man,” Nidhi Pandey, who lives in Padaria Tula Village, about 50 km away from Kheri, said.
Pandey, contacted the helpline of a local news channel and sought to know how she can contact the hospital and proceed with her wish to donate a kidney to Koppad, who is battling for his life.
Apart from Pandey, an ex-sailor of the Indian Navy SS Raju has expressed his willingness to donate any organ of his body to save the life of “fellow-brother” Koppad.
“I request doctors at the R&R Hospital to contact me immediately and I can go to New Delhi... I am ready to donate any organ, including liver, kidney...
We must save our fellow brother who is critical,” said Raju, a resident of Bhayander in adjoining Thane district.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also joined the nation in praying for the quick recovery of the soldier. “My prayers for our brave solider #Hanumanthappa,” Patnaik tweeted.
lauding the Army for their rescue efforts, he also tweeted: “Salutations to our Army for this outstanding effort.”
Addressing reporters on Wednesday evening after a cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the victim’s wife would also be given a state government job.
Meanwhile, according to an official bulletin from the Army said the soldier continued to remain extremely critical with evidence of oxygen deprivation to the brain on CT scan. “There is evidence of pneumonia in both lungs. His multi-organ dysfunction state continues unabated. His condition has deteriorated despite aggressive therapy and supportive care. He continues to battle the odds and his medical condition remains very critical,” the bulletin said.
The Critical Care specialists of R&R Hospital along with Head of Department, Department of Medicine, Senior Nephrologist and the Senior Neurologist and a panel of experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) are treating the 33-year-old soldier from Karnataka.
Koppad remains ventilator-dependent since his arrival in the hospital on Tuesday, officials said adding the medical team is monitoring his situation continuously and is treating him with the best expertise and resources available in the world.
Doctors said the soldier is expected to have a “stormy” course in the “next 24 hours” due to the complications caused by re-warming and establishment of blood flow to the parts of the body severely affected by extreme cold. His wife and brother are now at the hospital.
The injured soldier was evacuated by a Dhruv helicopter from the site of the avalanche and flown to New Delhi in a C-130J aircraft from Thoise in ladakh accompanied by a critical care specialist of the force and a medical specialist from the Siachen base camp.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Government on Wednesday sanctioned Rs.25 lakh for the family of lance Naik Sudheesh, who hailed from Kollam and who was one of the nine soldiers who died in an avalanche on Siachen glacier.