Siachen braveheart loses battle for life

Siachen avalanche survivor Lance Naik Hanmanthappa Koppad breathed his last on Thursday morning after battling for his life for two days at the Army’s Research & Referral (R&R) hospital in New Delhi. Six members of the Dharwad soldier’s family, including mother Basamma, wife Mahadevi and two-year-old daughter Nethra, were by his side during the last moments. The ominous signs were on the wall in the morning. "His circulatory shock is now refractory to all drugs in maximum permissible doses and his kidneys remain non-functional,” the medical bulletin stated. Hanmanthappa remained extremely critical with worsening multiple organ dysfunction, it pointed out. "His pneumonia has worsened and the blood clotting disorder shows no sign of reversal. He has slipped into a deeper state of coma,” the bulletin added. Within hours of the morning medical bulletin that chronicled his deteriorating health condition, an Army official confirmed his demise at 11:45 am.   DHNS