Saving men from jaws of death

Col HP Singh (retd)

He was leading a patrol of six men on the icy moraine of the Siachen glacier, which has the dubious distinction of being the highest battlefield in the world. The weather was inclement and blizzards made movement extremely difficult; taking a hundred steps warranted a minute’s halt to catch up with breath. Every step he took made him sink knee-deep in the loose snow and extricating it to step forward was getting tougher by the minute. The whiteout conditions were getting worse and he feared losing the beaten track, lest his party should sink in the crevasse covered by a thin layer of ice which appeared deceptively firm. Their destination, though in sight, seemed hours away. 

Lack of oxygen at 18,000 feet above the sea level had made everybody’s senses numb. If they didn’t reach their post in the next hour or so, they could be victims of hypoxia, a condition were the supply of oxygen is reduced to a level causing malfunction of brain cells. It was not easy to move with six layers of clothes adding to your weight and reducing the flexibility of the limbs.

Moments later, he felt that he was gradually sinking in the snow. He cautioned his patrol members who were all tied to one another with a specially made rope that could withstand the weight of 15 men without snapping. His party, as per training, instantly took to the lying down position with their ice axes anchored to the ice of beaten track which arrested their free-fall into the bottomless crevasse they had just encountered. Before they could take any further action, he was already chest-deep inside the snow, gasping for breath, with no energy left to extricate himself. 

His team tried to pull him out, but with every attempt, he was only getting deeper into the snow. It was a matter of time when the anchorage of the ice axes would give way and all of them would meet their icy end. By now, the vapours of breath he exhaled had transformed into ice crystals over his moustaches and beard. He slid further down into the quagmire of snow till it became all white, before becoming dark all around. Asphyxiated and desperately trying to breathe, he felt sleepy and was soon in a different world. 

The commotion and vibrations of the helicopter interrupted his slumber as we made the final approach to the helipad. He gave a faint smile of gratitude as he was transferred to the ambulance waiting for him. We had successfully added a few positive points to our karmic account. We were about to switch off our engine when we got a call from the control tower. There were some more karmic points left to be scored for the day. A shell splinter injury case was awaiting evacuation at another forward post. I looked at my equally fatigued co-pilot, took a few puffs from the oxygen cylinder, and once again got airborne to extricate some other soul from the jaws of death.