They Died in the Dark: Titan sub passenger Shahzada Dawood's wife Christine details victims' final moments
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: Final moments of the five people who died while onboard a doomed submersible have now been disclosed. OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush, French Titanic expert PH Nargeolet, British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, and a father-son duo Shahzada Dawood, and Suleman Dawood were traveling on the Titan to explore the site of the Titanic’s wreckage when they lost their lives to a 'catastrophic implosion'
Following the tragedy deep inside the Atlantic, Christine Dawood, who lost her husband, Shahzada, and teenage son, Suleman, had spoken about the time when contact with the vessel was lost. Now, the grieving woman has shared how her 48-year-old husband and son, 19, prepared for the voyage as well as how would they have spent their last moments.
Shahzada was ‘like a vibrating toddler’
While Shahzada and Suleman went inside the Titan in the early morning of June 18, Christine and her 17-year-old daughter, Alina, remained on the mothership, Polar Prince, the Daily Mail reported. She disclosed that before the start of the journey, all the explorers were asked to take thick socks with them and a hat to avoid getting cold.
Christine claimed that on June 15, in the middle of the night, they boarded the mothership at the harbor in St John's, Newfoundland, and sailed off to the dive site. She stated that briefings with scientific presentations and debate about the wreckage and the trip were held at 7 am and 7 pm.
The men were also told to have a “low-residue diet” and avoid coffee. Besides, the travelers were asked to download music to keep themselves entertained inside the sub, which was expected to go pitch dark as they moved toward the ruins site. However, the explorers were informed that they would probably see bioluminescent creatures, which made Shahzada act “like a vibrating toddler,” Christine said.
As for her husband, Christine claimed that he yearned for the same exploits as renowned Titanic diver Nargeolet, who told the family of a time when he was imprisoned in a sub for three days. “‘Oh, my god, this is so cool,’” she recalled him saying. “He was lapping everything up. He had this big glow on his face talking about all this nerdy stuff.” Although the father and son's journey cost the family $250,000 each, their days on board the Polar Prince before to cast off weren't very opulent. Christine described how the family had to deal with eating buffet-style meals on trays, sleeping on bunk beds in small quarters, and dealing with back-to-back meetings.
‘That engineering side, we just had no idea’
Christine also said that Rush and his wife, Wendy, came to London to meet the Dawoods and to explain things before the expedition. But they apparently failed to make them understand how the sub works. “That engineering side, we just had no idea. I mean, you sit in a plane without knowing how the engine works,” she shared.
The expedition, however, on June 18 began on a great note. The woman reportedly stated, “It was like a well-oiled operation — you could see they had done this before many times,” before mentioning, “It was a good morning.” But when the news of the Titan missing came, Christine added, “I was also looking out on the ocean, in case I could maybe see them surfacing.”
Earlier, Christine had said, “I miss them. I really, really miss them.” She also spoke of her husband while noting, “He had this ability of childlike excitement. He was involved in so many things, he helped so many people and I think I really want to continue that legacy and give him that platform... it's quite important for my daughter as well.”
