NEW DELHI (TIP): Siachen braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad died on February 11, three days after he was miraculously rescued alive from beneath tonnes of snow following an avalanche that hit his post in Siachen Glacier at an height of 19,600 feet. Dubbed as the ‘miracle man’, the soldier had managed to stay alive for six days buried under the snow after an avalanche struck their post on February 3.

Reasons for death 

Feb 8: Rescued from under 35-feet of snow after six days; taken to Siachen Base Hospital

• Conscious, but drowsy and disoriented
• Severely dehydrated, hypothermic (low body temperature), hypoxic (low oxygen ), hypoglycemic (low sugar) and in shock
• Comatose, with low blood pressure
• Pneumonia in both lungs
• Kidney, lung dysfunction
• Blood clotting disorder
• Brought to Delhi’s Army R&R hospital on Feb 9
• Health critical, in ICU on life-support Health worsens on Feb 10
• Slips into deeper state of coma
• Kidneys fail
• Stops responding to medicines
• Pneumonia worsen
• Dies of multi-organ failure at 11.45 am

How hypothermia kills

Extreme hypothermia is a potentially fatal drop in body temperature, usually from prolonged exposure to cold

• Core body temperature is below 82.4 F, from the normal 98.6 F;
• Slow, shallow breathing
• Absent or very faint pulse
• Progressive loss of consciousness
• Heart: Irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure (from blood vessels expanding during re-warming), blood clots
• Lungs: Pneumonia, pulmonary oedema (water in the lungs).
• Abdominal: Liver, pancreas and pancreas affected
• Death from multi-organ failure

Source: HT