Siachen braveheart Hanamanthappa passes away, nation pays tribute

Soldier in you remains immortal. Proud that you served India: PM

Braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, who was trapped for six days at the Siachen Glacier under 35 ft of ice before being rescued Monday night, lost his battle for life and passed away at around 11.45 am Thursday at the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital here. The end came after he suffered multi-organ failure, including kidney failure. He had slipped into a deeper coma after worsening of the pneumonia that afflicted him along with a “blood-clotting disorder”. The brave soldier breathed his last despite all-out efforts by the nation’s top Army and civil doctors to save him.

“We tried our level best to fight the death of the brave Siachen warrior but this morning his blood pressure dropped despite our best efforts and he had a cardiac arrest,” Lt. Gen. S.D. Duhan, director and commandant of the Army Hospital, was quoted as saying. The fact that Lance Naik Hanamanthappa was found alive even after six days under ice and snow was considered nothing short of a miracle.

In all, 10 soldiers, including Lance Naik Hanamanthappa, of Madras Regiment perished in the avalanche that struck a specific area over 20,000 ft at the glacier on February 3. Lance Naik Hanamanthappa, 33, had served in the 19th battalion of Madras Regiment and hailed from Betadur village in Karnataka’s Dharwad district. He is survived by wife Mahadevi Ashok Bilebal and two-year-old daughter Netra Koppad.

“He leaves us sad and devastated. RIP Lance Naik Hanamanthappa. The soldier in you remains immortal. Proud that martyrs like you served India,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, reflecting the sombre mood in the nation after the brave soldier’s death. “Really sorry to inform everyone that Lance Naik Hanamanthappa is no more. He breathed his last at 11.45 am,” the Army said earlier Thursday, soon after the soldier passed away.

Just minutes earlier, the Army had said: “Braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa continues to remain extremely critical with worsening multiple organ dysfunction. His circulatory shock is now refractory to all drugs in maximum permissible doses and his kidneys remain non-functional. His pneumonia has worsened and the blood clotting disorder shows no sign of reversal despite blood component support. He is on maximal life support with aggressive ventilation and dialysis. He has slipped into a deeper state of coma.”

The braveheart’s mortal remains were kept at Brar Square in Delhi Cantonment where defence minister Manohar Parrikar, the three service chiefs, Congress president

Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and a host of military officers, among others, paid homage by placing wreaths at a solemn ceremony. The martyr’s wife, Mahadevi, sat in stoic silence through the sombre proceedings with wails of their two-year-old daughter Netra piercing the silence. Defence ministry officials said his remains would be flown to Karnataka late Thursday night and the cremation will take place in Hubli on Friday before sunset.

Lt. Gen. Duhan said on arrival his body temperature was normal, heart rate very fast and blood pressure very low. He said doctors immediately started treatment, which included administering glucose because he was starving for five days, and maintaining his temperature at 37 C to stabilise his condition. As time progressed, blood was supplied to parts of the body which had not received it for over five to six days.

“The cells which have been deprived of oxygen and glucose could not handle the metabolic load that was being put on the cells. And all the cells, which are already fragile and consisted of a lot of toxins because of working in very poor environment without oxygen, glucose, produced a lot of toxins. These toxins now spilt over into the blood and because of low blood pressure, his kidney, liver and brain, which had been damaged at high altitude, worsened rapidly. The cells, which are very fragile in this condition, were producing these toxins and worsened his condition,” Lt. Gen. Duhan added.

Over the past three decades, Madras Regiment battalions have distinguished themselves in deployment at Siachen despite the fact that soldiers of the regiment, who hail from southern India, would almost certainly never have faced even moderately cold conditions in their early years.

In his condolence message to the martyr’s mother Basamma Koppad, President Pranab Mukherjee said: “I am deeply sad to learn about the passing away of your son, Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad. Lance Naik Koppad was a hero who demonstrated exemplary will power and courage in the face of adversity. He made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty... The nation shall always remember Lance Naik Hanamanthappa for his bravery and indomitable spirit.”

The condition of the braveheart had deteriorated on Wednesday evening while remaining extremely critical, with brain damage including evidence of oxygen deprivation to the brain, pneumonia in both lungs, and multi-organ failure including damage to kidneys, thereby rendering the chances of his survival as extremely bleak.