BAGESHWAR: On Friday, deep in the wilderness of Uttarakhand’s Pindari glacier trek route, 24-year-old Vijay Danu’s life was hanging by a thread after he fell nearly 330 feet into a gorge. Danu, a resident of Khati village, was supervising labourers repairing the trekking route when a single misstep sent him plunging into the chasm.
What followed was an extraordinary all-night rescue operation by a 13-member team, who embarked on a 20km trek to save Danu, trapped in the biting cold at an altitude of almost 12,000 feet.
The accident occurred around 7 pm near Jwarpani, approximately 7 km from Pindari glacier. The labourers who were with Danu alerted authorities, and Kapkot police launched an urgent rescue operation later that evening. The team, comprising members of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police, fire department, and medical support, drove to Khati village before beginning their grueling 20km trek through icy, treacherous terrain. Upon reaching the gorge, they faced their toughest challenge — a 330 ft descent into complete darkness.
“We knew the risks, but we also knew someone’s life depended on us,” said Rajender Rawat, a member of the rescue team. Battling freezing winds, the team found Danu at the bottom—alive but gravely injured, with severe head and leg trauma and hypothermia setting in. He had been stuck there for approximately six hours.
The mission didn’t end there. Danu, secured onto a stretcher, had to be carried on foot for the trek back to Khati village. “Every step was a challenge,” said Dr Manish Gururani, who provided medical support during the journey. “The cold, exhaustion, and unforgiving terrain could have broken us, but the will to save him kept us going,” he added.
The team reached Khati by dawn, where Danu received initial treatment before being taken to Kapkot’s Community Health Centre (CHC). Despite severe head trauma and partial paralysis, Danu survived. “His survival is a miracle,” said Dr Brijesh Kishore Ghatiyal, the hospital’s in-charge. Danu has since been referred to another medical facility for advanced care.
Meanwhile, for Danu’s family, the rescue was nothing short of divine intervention. Fighting back tears, his brother Kailash said, “We thought we had lost him. What the police, villagers, and medical team have done is beyond words. They gave us back our brother.”
District disaster management officer Shikha Suyal commended the team’s efforts despite the challenges. “The rescue operation was carried out through the night, in extreme cold and harsh terrain. In spite of the challenges, the team triumphed and successfully saved the young man’s life,” she said.
