The 19-year-old who perished in the Titan submersible along with his father had hoped to break a world record for solving a Rubik’s Cube in the depths of the ocean.
Suleman Dawood brought his Rubik’s Cube with him and his dad grabbed his camera as they boarded the doomed Titanic-bound sub last Sunday, the teen’s devastated mother Christine Dawood told the BBC.
“He said, ‘I’m going to solve the Rubik’s Cube 3,700 meters below sea at the Titanic,’” she told the outlet in her first interview since the deaths of her son and husband.
The teen was able to solve the cube puzzle in under 20 seconds and carried it with him everywhere, she added.
The grieving mom said she had originally planned to take the trip to the bottom of the sea with her husband, but the excursion was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the opportunity to board the OceanGate submersible arose again, she said she let her son go instead.
“Then I stepped back and gave them space to set [Suleman] up because he really wanted to go,” Christine said.
She and her 17-year-old daughter Alina were on the mothership that launched the sub to excitingly see off their husband/father and son/brother on Father’s Day.
“I was really happy for them because both of them, they really wanted to do that for a very long time,” she said.
They were still on the mothership, the Polar Prince, when the team lost communications with the Titan about an hour and 45 minutes after launch.
“I didn’t comprehend at that moment what it meant – and then it just went downhill from there,” Christine told the British publication.
Soon, the frantic rescue mission turned into a recovery mission.
“I think I lost hope when we passed the 96 hours mark,” the mom and wife said.
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Around that time is when Christine alerted family members.
“I said: ‘I’m preparing for the worst.’ That’s when I lost hope.”
Suleman and his 48-year-old father Shahzada Dawood were two of five passengers aboard the Titanic-bound submersible that died when the craft imploded. British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58; former French navy diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77; and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61 were also killed.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada announced on Saturday that it would examine voice recordings and other data from Titan to investigate what happened to the sub.
A funeral prayer was held for the father and son on Sunday after the family returned to St John’s the day before.
Shahzada Dawood was one of Pakistan’s wealthiest men as the vice chairman of Engro Corporation — a subsidiary company of Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited, a public investment holding company that focuses on agriculture, industries, and the health sector.
The businessman also sat as a board member for the Global Advisory Board for Prince Charles’ Charity, Prince’s Trust International, and on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence.
Shahzada was born in Pakistan but moved to the UK and studied law at the University of Buckingham.
“He had this ability of childlike excitement,” Christine said of her late husband.
“He was involved in so many things, he helped so many people and I think I think that I really want to continue that legacy and give him that platform when his work has continued and it’s quite important for my daughter as well.”
She told the BBC she was unsure if she’d ever find closure following the loss of her son and husband.
“I miss them,” she said. “I really, really miss them.”
The mom and daughter plan to learn to solve a Rubik’s Cube in Suleman’s honor.
