The mother of the 19-year-old man killed in the OceanGate Expeditions submersible that imploded last week is remembering her son and mourning his loss.
Of course, we’ve been covering the tragic story of teenager Suleman Dawood, his dad Shahzada Dawood, and the other three men who were killed instantly when their Titan submersible imploded in the North Atlantic Ocean last week while diving down to visit the wreckage of the Titanic.
Now, Christine Dawood (pictured above) is speaking out about it — and revealing that her beloved son Suleman very much wanted to go on the trip ahead of the tragedy. That’s notable, because it would seem to conflict with statements other family members made about Suleman supposedly being terrified of the idea of the adventure down to the bottom of the ocean.
Related: Titanic Sub Explorer Shahzada Dawood Previously Survived Terrifying Plane Plunge
On Sunday, Christine spoke to the BBC about the voyage. She said that she was actually invited on the trip first, and she was going to be there with her husband on the ill-fated voyage. However, the trip had initially been pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and when it was, she gave up her seat to her son.
Speaking of Suleman, and how much he “really wanted to go” on the vessel, Christine said:
“Then I stepped back and gave them space to set [Suleman] up, because he really wanted to go. I was really happy for them because both of them, they really wanted to do that for a very long time.”
Remembering how intelligent her son was, the mourning mom explained to the outlet that he could solve a Rubik’s Cube in twelve seconds.
That puzzle, she said, was significant because Suleman took one of the cubes with him down to the bottom of the ocean. He intended on breaking a record of solving it so far underwater while he was there:
“He said, ‘I’m going to solve the Rubik’s Cube 3,700 metres below sea at the Titanic.’”
As for the very end, Christine recalled her final interaction with her beloved son up on the surface of the water before the Titan submersible went below.
Related: YouTuber MrBeast Says He Was ‘Invited’ On Titanic Sub Trip — But Declined
She said that he had been excited “like a little child” for the voyage. To the news org, she recalled how her husband and son were giddy and feeling good about the trip in the last moments she saw him alive:
“Well we just hugged and joked actually, because Shahzada was so excited to go down, he was like a little child. So the sentence, we lost comm [communication], I think that will be a sentence I never want to hear in my life again.”
So sad.
Both Christine and her daughter — 17-year-old Alina — were onboard the sub’s support ship Polar Prince while the vessel dove down to see the Titanic. So, when the support ship first lost contact with the sub late last weekend, the family immediately knew something was very wrong.
Alina tried to hold out hope that they would somehow find the men alive, but after several days of searching without any success, Christine revealed that she began to expect the worst news imaginable:
“Past the 96-hour mark, that’s when I lost hope. That’s when I sent a message to my family on shore, ‘I’m preparing for the worst.’”
Breaking down in her interview with the BBC, the mourning mother added:
“I miss them, I really, really miss them.”
Just heartbreaking.
You can see some of her interview with the BBC (below):
We continue to send our condolences to Christine, Alina, and all the rest of the loved ones of those whose lives were lost on that submersible last week.
Such a tragic situation.
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