Siachen hero loses battle for life

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 11

Siachen braveheart Lance Naik Hanumanthappa passed away at the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital here today because of multiple-organ dysfunction after a three-day battle for life. He was rescued from the avalanche-hit Siachen glacier on February 8.

“Lance Naik Hanumanthappa is no more. He breathed his last at 11.45 am,” a senior Army official said. The cremation will take place at Hubli in Karnataka tomorrow. 

The 33-year-old soldier of the 19th Battalion of Madras Regiment is survived by his wife Mahadevi Ashok Bilebal and a two-year-old daughter, Netra Koppad. A resident of Betadur village in Dharwad district of Karnataka, he had joined the Army 13 years ago. Hanumanthappa along with nine other Armymen, none of whom survived, were buried under the avalanche that hit the 19,600-ft high Sonam Post on February 3. 

He was found alive, but with serious complications on February 8. 

In Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi were among those who paid homage to the soldier. 

“He leaves us sad & devastated. RIP Lance Naik Hanumanthappa. The soldier in you remains immortal. Proud that martyrs like you served India," the Prime Minister tweeted.

“In his life and his passing, Lance Naik Hanumanthappa has shown the world the meaning of perseverance & courage,” wrote Rahul Gandhi on Twitter.

Dubbed 'miracle man', Hanamanthappa’s condition had deteriorated yesterday. “His circulatory shock is now refractory to all drugs in maximum permissible doses and his kidneys remained non-functional,” a health bulletin released by the Army earlier in the day had said. His pneumonia had worsened and the blood-clotting disorder showed no signs of reversal despite blood component support.