India lost one more braveheart when Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, the lone survivor of the avalanche that stuck an Army post in Siachen on February 3 burying 10 soldiers of 19 Madras Regiment, died in a Delhi hospital on Thursday. The soldier was rescued after being buried in snow and ice for six days while the nine other soldiers guarding India’s borders along with him were martyred.
Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad died at the Army Research & Referral hospital at 11.45 am after battling for life for nine days, the first six when he was buried under almost 30 feet of snow and ice before he was rescued miraculously. He is survived by his wife Mahadevi Ashok Bilebal and a one and a half year old daughter Netra Koppad.
He was suffering from multiple organ failure and was on life support system ever since he was rescued from the icy heights of Siachen. He was being treated by a team of neurologist, nephrologist, endocrinologist and surgeons at the R&R hospital. He was administered fluids and drugs to bring up his blood pressure, besides antibiotics but his condition kept on deteriorating.
Hanamanthappa, who was rescued on February 8 from an altitude of 20,500 feet by a team of over 150 soldiers, was earlier flown to Delhi from Siachen in an IAF aircraft, accompanied by a critical care specialist of the force on February 9.
He, and nine other soldiers of the 19 Madras Regiment, were struck by an avalanche on the morning of February 3. Hanamanthappa survived under 35 feet of snow for six days, before he was pulled out.
Hailing from Betadur village in Dharwad district of Karnataka, Hanamanthappa was a highly-motivated soldier and had served in difficult and challenging areas for most of his 13 years in the army. The 33-year-old soldier had enrolled in 19th Battalion of Madras Regiment on October 25, 2002.
He served in Jammu and Kashmir from 2003 to 2006 where he was actively involved in counter-insurgency operations. He again volunteered to serve with 54 Rashtriya Rifles (Madras) in J&K from 2008 to 2010 and displayed indomitable courage in fighting terrorism.
Koppad also volunteered to serve in the North east from 2010 to 2012 where he actively participated in successful operations against terror groups NDFB and ULFA.
He was serving in the super high-altitude areas of Siachen Glacier in J&K from August 2015 and was chosen for deployment at one of the highest posts at an altitude of 19,600 feet since December, where personnel have to encounter temperatures of below minus 40 degrees Celsius and winds of up to 100kmph.
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