This woman IPS officer from UP conquers South Pole & she had pneumonia while doing it

New Delhi, Jan 25: She was hit by pneumonia just ahead of the mission to land of ice but Aparna Kumar did not budge from her goal. Last Sunday, January 13, she accomplished her mission of reaching the South Pole and did so as the first woman IPS officer.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, Aparna suffered from pneumonia just before she left for the expedition and also broke her prescription sunglasses during the mission.

"Braving high speed icy wind which slashed my face amid bouts of frost bite and chest congestion made the experience of skiing up to eight hours a day at a temperature of minus 40 degree Celsius memorable," Aparna, a 2002 batch IPS of UP Cadre, currently posted as DIG, ITBP, in Dehradun, was quoted as saying.

The IPS officer who reached South Pole on January 13, said it was a struggle to conduct a mission in such extreme weather conditions and she always had the fear of getting frostbite.

"I felt really blessed and fortunate," she said while giving her husband Sanjay Kumar credit for her success. Kumar is the secretary, Urban Development, UP, and is the mastermind behind all of Aparna's expeditions.

While one team member from the UK left the mission midway because of altitude problem, another one from Ireland gave up because of severe tendonitis, an ailment in the elbow. But Aparna continued despite her illness and did it even while pulling 35-kilograms of sled.