Siachen soldier's death due to multi-organ failure: Doctor

 

New Delhi, Feb 11 Despite best efforts by a team of medical experts, Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad could not be saved as his brain activity ceased a few hours before his death, a senior army doctor said on Thursday.

The oxygen-deprived cells of his body were not able to cope with metabolism pressure when glucose was administered to him in a bid to stabilise him, said Lt. General S.D. Duhan, director of the Army Hospital Research & Referral here. 

The cells also produced toxins, which worsened his condition and aggravated organ failure. 

Koppad died at 11.45 a.m. at the army hospital, where he was admitted on Tuesday, disappointing millions in the country who had prayed for his recovery.

”We tried our level best to fight death for the sake of this brave Siachen warrior but his blood pressure dropped this morning," the hospital director told reporters here. 

"Despite all precautionary measures, his neurological and heart functions worsened over time, his brain swelled and electrical activity in his brain gradually stopped a few hours before his death,” he said. 

Lt General Duhan said that when the Lance Naik was wheeled into the hospital in an "intubated state" on February 9 his body temperature was normal, heart rate very fast and blood pressure very low.

The team of doctors who took care of him included experts from the army hospital and All India Institute of Medical Sciences. 

"We began the treatment by administering glucose, since he was starving for it for the past five days. As time progressed, blood was supplied to his body parts which otherwise were deprived of blood for the past six days then," he said. 

Lt. General Duhan said the damage to Koppad's kidneys, liver and brain at the high altitude of Siachen glacier further worsened his condition rapidly.