New Delhi : The condition of Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, rescued from the Siachen glacier, has deteriorated, army doctors said on Wednesday. This has happened ‘‘despite aggressive therapy and supportive care”.
Koppad was rescued from under 35 feet of snow at an avalanche-hit army post in the Siachen glacier six days after he and nine other soldiers were buried. The bodies of the other nine have been found.
Koppad is also on ventilator. An earlier bulletin had said the soldier “continues to battle the odds”. Koppad’s family is at his bedside in the hospital complex, praying — like millions across the country — for his recovery.
Doctors treating the soldier, whose survival is 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.
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Asked how he survived the hostile weather for six long days, a doctor from the army hospital said they have no account of what exactly happened.
“Only when Lance Naik Koppad gains consciousness we will be able to get an account of how he managed to survive,” the doctor told IANS.
Koppad and the other soldiers were hit by the avalanche at an altitude of around 20,500 feet. He was found miraculously alive just when the rescuers were beginning to lose hope.
The soldier was found conscious but drowsy and disoriented. He was also severely dehydrated and in shock. He had pneumonia and was suffering from liver and kidney dysfunction. But there was no cold exposure related frost bite or bone injuries.
