Siachen soldier found miraculously alive, now stable

Koppad and nine other soldiers were swept away by an avalanche at the Siachen glacier on February 3, at an altitude of around 19,500 feet. The temperature at that elevation was 45 degrees Celsius.

According to a latest medical bulletin on the condition of Hanumanthappa who was rescued after five days when a deadly avalanche hit Siachen, a medical team is continuously monitoring his condition.

The soldier was found to be conscious but drowsy and disoriented. But on Monday, Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad was found “dehydrated, hypothermic, hypoxic, hypoglycemic, and in shock”-but alive”.

“Lance Naik Hanamanthappa has displayed unmatched mental robustness and firm will”, a statement by the Indian Army said. “Living in insurmountable circumstances in a place like Siachen, the soldiers fearless against all odds to save our country, any appreciation is less for them”, Gandhi said in her letter to the Lance Naik’s 62-year-old mother.

The soldier was flown here from Siachen Glacier this morning in a special air ambulance and admitted to the Research and Referral Hospital.

Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad continued to be in shock with low blood pressure, and has been put on ventilator in the ICU. He also has pneumonia and liver and kidney problems.

Fortunately, there was no cold exposure-related frost bite or bony injuries to him, a medical bulletin issued by the hospital said.

Doctors treating the soldier, whose survival is being seen as a miracle, include top critical care specialists, head of the department of medicine, senior nephrologists and neurologists from the army hospital as well as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He has been treated with fluids, drugs to bring up his blood pressure and antibiotics.

The army had all but lost hope of finding anyone, dead or alive and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also tweeted: “I salute the courageous soldiers who gave their lives to the nation”.

General Dalbir Singh, COAS visited Army Hospital Research and Referral (R&R) today and commended the courageous heart for his indomitable mental robustness and his refusal to give in to harsh elements of nature.