Siachen braveheart Hanumanthappa passes away; India mourns

New Delhi: A billion prayers were behind him but Siachen hero Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad lost the battle for life on Thursday.

33-year-old Hanumanthappa passed away at 11:45 am at Indian Army's Research and Referral Hospital in the national capital.

His condition had worsened last night. The brave soldier had slipped into deeper coma and was on maximal life support since then.

The shortage of oxygen to his brain and failure of kidneys made it even more difficult for the doctors to revive him.

Doctors at the R&R Hospital, aided by specialists from AIIMS, had put in their best effort to save the brave soldier but it never seemed enough.

Hanumanthappa's family – his 62-year-old mother Basamma, wife Mahadevi and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter – were at the hospital when he breathed his last.

He had survived six days buried under 25 feet of snow.

It was miracle. India had hoped the miracle would continue...