Major Varun Khajuria was buried under snow and suddenly an avalanche rod struck on his head.
Buried under an avalanche, even rescue often comes in the form of pain, as the Indian Army's Major Varun Khajuria found out six years ago.
"I was buried under snow and suddenly an avalanche rod (a rod inserted in snow to trace people buried in avalanche) struck on my head and I started bleeding.. that was how the rescuers came to know I was buried," he says.
Minutes after being rescued, Major Khajuria turned rescuer. Many soldiers were still trapped under tons and tons of snow.
At least 222 soldiers, who were undergoing training at Afarwat - a place near Kashmir's Gulmarg -- had got buried as an avalanche had come down the slopes on February 8, 2010.
On that occasion, the army suffered 17 casualties. The rescue work had gone on for a week.
For his efforts in the rescue work, Major Varun had received a sena medal from the army.
Having first-hand experience of being buried under snow, though only for 20 minutes, Major Varun says it was nothing short of a miracle that Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad survived under 25 feet of snow in Siachen for six days.
It was proof of great grit and determination, he said.
Lance Naik Hanamanthappa and nine other soldiers had been buried under snow on February 3 when a solid wall of ice fell on them in Siachen. Though in a very critical condition, he was the only soldier to be rescued alive on Monday. He died at Delhi's Research and Referral Hospital on Thursday.