The mother of the 19-year-old who died on the Titan submersible has reportedly said that her son "really wanted to go" on the doomed voyage.
Last Thursday (June 22), the US Coast Guard confirmed that the sub - operated by OceanGate - had imploded. Fears for the Titan had peaked shortly after its departure on Sunday (June 18), after it stopped sending signals back to its launch ship, the Polar Prince.
The ill-fated excursion was carrying OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding, renowned French dive specialist Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and the father-son pair of Shahzada and Suleman Dawood.
Sadly, OceanGate and the US Coast Guard confirmed the devastating news that all five men aboard the submersible had tragically lost their lives due to a "catastrophic implosion".
Following the loss of the father and son, Suleman's aunt claimed that he had reservations about the voyage, but proceeded with the trip to please his dad for Father's Day.
The submersible was on a deep-sea dive to explore the Titanic shipwreck, 12,500ft below the ocean's surface. Azmeh Dawood, Suleman's aunt, spoke to NBC News after the tragedy and said her nephew wasn't thrilled about the journey, but acquiesced to his father's enthusiasm about the legendary shipwreck.
However, Osman Waheed - a longtime friend of the Dawood family - later spoke out about the aunt's comments, saying that he finds it improbable that the family would have disregarded Suleman's concerns.
In a conversation with Peter Cardwell of TalkTV, Waheed described Suleman as an adventurous individual, just like his father. He fondly recalled Suleman's playful spirit, always climbing trees and running barefoot in the garden.
"The love they have for each other and the shared reverence with which they treated each other," Waheed said, explaining the relationship dynamic in the Dawood family, one of mutual respect and close-knit bonds. It was a household where they could joke with one another and share their thoughts openly."
Suleman's mother Christine says her son "really wanted to go" on the Titan sub:Now, Suleman's mother Christine Dawood has spoken about how her son had been excited to go on board the vessel. She revealed to the BBC that she had planned to go with her husband to view the Titanic wreck in the sub, but that their original trip was canceled due to the Covid pandemic.
"Then I stepped back and gave them space to set [Suleman] up, because he really wanted to go," Christine said.
After contact was lost with the vessel, Christine and her daughter Alina, 17, waited nervously for any news. "We had loads of hope, that was the only thing that got us through it because we were hoping," she added.
This past Sunday (June 25) the Dawood family held a funeral prayer for Shahzada and Suleman, which Christine said had "helped" grieving family members and friends immensely. When paying tribute to Suleman, Christine admitted he had been a "mother's boy" but that he also "loved his father".
The grieving mother and widow revealed that, in the family's last moments together: "We just hugged and joked actually, because Shahzada was so excited to go down, he was like a little child. He had this ability of childhood excitement, they were both so excited."