Christine Dawood is sharing heartbreaking details behind the Titan sub catastrophe.
Four days after the company operating the Titanic research vessel stated that all five members aboard were presumed dead, the mom of passenger Suleman Dawood, 19, revealed she originally had a seat on the OceanGate sub alongside her husband Shahzada Dawood. However, the trip was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.
"Then I stepped back and gave them space to set [Suleman] up," Christine told the BBC June 26. "Because he really wanted to go."
As she explained, the college student also brought a Rubik's Cube along with him, hoping to make history as the world's fastest solver of the puzzle. She recalled, "He said, 'I'm going to solve the Rubik's Cube 3,700 metres below sea at the Titanic."
"I was really happy for them because both of them," she said, "they really wanted to do that for a very long time."
In addition to Suleman and his dad Shahzada, 48, OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush, as well as billionaire Hamish Harding and explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet were all aboard the submersible when it went missing on June 18 just hours into its journey to the Titanic wreckage in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Christine—who previously recounted surviving a near-death plane incident with Shahzada—also reflected on the moment she came to the harrowing realization about her husband and son's fate.
"I think I lost hope when we passed the 96 hours mark," she shared, adding that she sent a message to her family. "I said: 'I'm preparing for the worst.'"
Four days after the search launched, U.S. Coast Guard officials announced in a press conference that debris from an external part of the vessel was found about 1,600 feet away from the famous shipwreck, consistent with a catastrophic implosion.
One day after the tragic development, Suleman and Shahzada's family paid tribute to the father-son duo.
"In this unfathomable tragedy, we try to find solace in the enduring legacy of humility and humanity that they have left behind," the family's obituary shared to Glasgow Live June 23 read, "and find comfort in the belief that they passed on to the next leg of their spiritual journey hand-in-hand, father and son."
Noting that the bond between Shahzada and Suleman "was a joy to behold," the family added that "they were each other's greatest supporters and cherished a shared passion for adventure and exploration of all the world had to offer them."
Read on for more details on the five passengers aboard the Titanic sub.