Himveer Narendra Kumar, 37, was among the 25 bravehearts who set out on the treacherous expedition in February.
An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Head Constable has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after surviving for an incredible 64 hours in a -43 degrees Celsius temperature on Dhaulagiri, the seventh highest mountain in the world. He is undergoing treatment for fourth-degree frostbite.
Himveer Narendra Kumar, 37, was among the 25 bravehearts who set out on the treacherous expedition in February. Five of them, including Kumar and his mates Constable Bishwas Biman and Head Constable Krishna Pratap Gurung, were at a height of 8,000m when the weather started taking a turn for the worse. The rest of the team was at the summit camp.
Gurung had already summited the 8,167m peak and Biman and Kumar were just a little behind when they realised that Gurung was returning and did not look well. They immediately decided to stop the mission and carried Gurung back to the summit camp. In normal weather conditions, the journey from the camp to the summit takes 17 hours. But the three managed to return to the camp in 54 hours. The long time spent in the freezing open worsened their condition.
While rest of the 20 team members are still at the Dhaulagiri base camp, five were brought to a hospital in Kathmandu on May 23, and then shifted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre on May 25. Three only needed painkillers and antibiotics but Biman and Kumar had to be admitted for severe pain. Biman was also released later, but Kumar is yet to recover from his fourth degree frostbite.
"We are giving him Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), which involves a medical supply of oxygen at a high pressure to revive the affected areas, as frostbites occur due to lowering of oxygen in these areas," Dr Rajesh Malhotra, Chief of the AIIMS Trauma Centre, said.
"We generally set demarcation points, where we give therapy for a certain amount of time and then decide on the next step. In this case, we will give HBOT for two weeks. But it looks like some part of their toes and fingers might have to go away," he added.
Kumar is currently on antibiotics, pain killers, and medicines for fever. A one-hour HBOT is given to him every morning. His hands, which have turned totally black, are responding to the therapy and his palms have started to change colour, but the tips of his fingers are still rock solid.
"I have been with the ITBP since 1999 and have gone on many expeditions before," said Kumar, who hails from the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. "We had been camping at Dhaulagiri since February. The incident took place while we were going towards the summit," he said.
Meanwhile, an internal ITBP source said these officers might be considered for gallantry awards. Himveers of ITBP are the finest mountain warfare force personnel in the world. At certain border posts in the Himalayas, ITBP guards are the country's first line of defence.
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