Siachen braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, who survived miraculously for six days under a huge ice-and-snow debris after an avalanche hit his post, was on Sunday awarded the Sena Medal here.
Hanamanthappa later lost his life to multiple organ failure.
The doughty soldier’s wife Mahadevi Ashok Bilebal received the medal from Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat at the Army Day parade here.
A resident of village Betadur in Dharwad district of Karnataka, the Madras regiment soldier was pulled out alive from under 30 ft of ice-and-snow debris. Dubbed the ‘miracle man’, the soldier had managed to stay alive for six days in minus 45 degrees Celsius temperature in the world’s highest battlefield.
As many as 10 army personnel, including Koppad, were buried alive on February 3 in the avalanche.
The Lance Naik was flown to Delhi’s Army Referral and Research Hospital for treatment where he died on February 11 due to multiple organ failure, after waging a grim battle for life for nine days.
His death was deeply condoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while the whole nation paid glowing tributes to the 33-year-old soldier. He had served for 10 years in difficult and challenging areas out of his 13 years of service.
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