(This video was first published on 11 February 2017. It has been reposted from The Quint’s archives to mark the death anniversary of Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad.)
Siachen braveheart Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad survived miraculously for six days under a huge ice-and-snow debris after an avalanche hit his post on 3 February.
The lone survivor of the avalanche, Lance Naik Koppad won his bout against nature, but succumbed to multiple organ failure at the Army Research and Referral hospital on 11 February 2016.
The soldier, who became the centrepiece of the nation’s attention was enrolled in the 19th Battalion of the Madras Regiment on 25 October 2002. Throughout his career, Koppad displayed high degree of initiative and has served 10 years in difficult and challenging areas out of the 13 years of total service.
A resident of village Betadur in Dharwad district of Karnataka, the Madras regiment soldier was dubbed as the 'miracle man' for surviving in minus 45 degrees Celsius temperature under 30 feet of ice-and-snow debris.
At the time of his death, not just the Army but the whole nation paid glowing tributes to the 33-year-old soldier. He was posthumously awarded with the 'Sena Medal' for showing exemplary courage.
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