NEW DELHI: Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, the Siachen braveheart who defied death for six days buried under snow, passed away at 11.45 am on Thrusday, the Army Research and Referral Hospital said, even as a team of experts from AIIMS and military doctors tried their best to save the soldier’s life.

He leaves behind his parents, wife and a daughter.

The lone survivor of the Siachen avalanche that killed nine others, Hanamanthappa Koppad had slipped into deeper coma on Thursday morning.

He was rescued from under 25 feet of ice in the Siachen glacier, after six days. He was hospitalised for three days, but despite aggressive medication could not survive.

Hanamanthappa was on maximal life support. His kidneys were non-functional and he had been put on dialysis. His pneumonia also worsened and there were indications that the blood clot disorder had reversed.

Hanumanthappa Koppad, who was buried in an avalanche at Siachen Glacier on February 3 and rescued on February 8, deteriorated on Wednesday despite aggressive therapy and supportive care, the Army said.

Officials said his urea and creatine levels were above normal, signalling kidney dysfunction. He has been put on dialysis, they said. Sources also said the oxygen levels in his blood and brain had dipped as compared to Tuesday, when he was first admitted to the capital’s Research & Referral Hospital.

He was in an extremely critical with evidence of oxygen deprivation to the brain on CT scan, a medical bulletin issued in on Wednesday had said.

‘There was evidence of pneumonia in both lungs. His multi-organ dysfunction state continues unabated. His condition has deteriorated despite aggressive therapy and supportive care,“ it added.

PM visited braveheart

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday went to meet Siachen avalanche lone survivor Lance Naik Hanumanthappa at the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital. Modi, along with Army Chief General Dalbir Singh, interacted with the doctors, who were treating the soldier.

Entire country prayed for him

Even as the soldier lay battling for his life, India prayed for his speedy recovery.

Koppad, who was rescued on February 8 from an altitude of 20,500 feet by a team of over 150 soldiers and two canines, Dot and Misha, and was initially declared dead by authorities, was flown in New Delhi by an IAF aircraft accompanied by a critical care specialist of the force and a medical specialist from the Siachen base camp.