Somewhere in NEFA Valley altitude 15500 feet, mercury dipping and anchoring to sub zero levels. Chilling wind blaze added another level of difficulty freezing every inch of the body and any exposed skin would immediately turn blue. To know, what it was, one had to be there else you can only imagine. We, the band of boys held the fort for the countrymen. That night I had a knock on my Fiber Re-enforced Plastic hut, FRP as we called it. It had a small 10 feet x10 feet space, but it seemed like a palace at those altitudes, where not even a blade of grass grew. I wondered who was it, the voice came " sahab ji main haan Satnam, maadi ji problem" ( little problem in Punjabi dialect). I knew it's never a minor problem, when you are being called upon at night, else these boys would have sorted it out themselves. He said " Harnek nu saans Chad gai hai" ( Harnek is having difficulty in breathing). I rushed out of FRP, though it was barely 50 meters but it almost took 10 mins to reach the other FRP. Walking and breathing were a task by itself, oxygen levels were much below the normal, any effort of walking would leave you panting. I saw Harnek gasping for breath. I really couldn't understand what could have gone wrong. Without wasting even a minute picked up the magneto phone and called up base camp asked them to connect me to the doctor. The doctor spoke to me and tried to understand the situation , I was trying to explain to him and comprehend his directions as to which medicine was to be given. We had a medical box which had probable medicines with a list of symptoms. Doctor told me, it appeared to be a case of HAPO (High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema) a medical emergency condition when water gets accumulated in the lungs, it's a common illness at high altitudes due to low atmospheric pressure. But the problem is that, if the water is not taken out of lungs it progresses very fast and turns fatal in few hours else the other solution is to lower the altitude of patient by use of HAPO bag. It's a bag in which patient is made to lie-down, it is closed and air is pumped into it, this maintains the atmospheric pressure around the patient and within no time, whatever altitude we may be at, the atmospheric pressure around the patient is brought at par to that of sea level. Both the things didn't seem to be working out, neither was I medically trained to drain out the water from lungs, which only trained doctors could do, nor did we have the HAPO bag. The nearest availability of doctor and HAPO bag was at least 6-8 hrs of walking distance. All eyes were staring at me and wanting to know my call about the situation. Easiest was to wait for the Helicopter evacuation till the morning, but that too had a dark lining, in case if the weather packed, heli would not turn up and by then we would have lost time beyond control. The only reasonable option left with me was to head for the road head which was about 6 hrs of walking distance, but with a man on stretcher, it would take us nothing less than 6-8 hours of continuous walking. And in this option, one thing was for sure, to find a doctor with an ambulance and HAPO bag. My conscious call was certain, that I was not going to take any chance and let Harnek take last breath on my lap. I asked to prepare at least a party of 8 boys in buddy pairs and a stretcher to evacuate Harnek . We knew, it was not going to be easy in this sub zero temperature. Doctor asked me, if I was sure and didn't want to wait for the Heli evacuation in the morning. I knew, the going was going to be tough, but we were trained for tough turfs. Life at these inhospitable terrains was any which way not easy. Well, without wasting even a minute, we picked up Harnek and headed for a tough call that I had taken. Among those present in FRP not even one person had iota of doubt, how will it be undertaken in the fierce cold night, because everyone knew tomorrow it could be him needing shoulders to rescue. The journey began at 2100 hrs in the night in buddy pairs lifting Harnek on the stretcher, the descent had made the load to be more on the shoulders of the front bearers and while up-climb, it was the turn of rear bearer's shoulders to bear extra share of burden. So you see, life balances it out, no one is at advantage in the fair game of life. As the journey with Harnek began and the time passed, the buddy pairs kept shifting the whole night and shoulders began to bleed, lungs were gasping for breath. At 15000 ft carrying own weight is a challenge and with added weight of a person on stretcher with the inclined gravity makes it difficult beyond imagination. It's sheer girt, determination and camaraderie that kept us going that night. That night I realized the fiber that kept us bonded was strong, it withstood the test of time, even the freezing chill and the fatigue beyond physical capacity couldn't break it. It was about 0430 hrs in the morning when we reached the road head. Doctor was already present there waiting for us with an ambulance and a HAPO bag. Harnek was taken to Base hospital. Later we learnt, it was a confirmed case of HAPO and any further delay could have been fatal. That night though our shoulders bled, but we saved Harnek. We didn't only save him, but his family and our faith in the camaraderie. I salute the camaraderie of my band of brothers who stood by my side in my decision. Jai Hind !!
