CHRISTINE Dawood, the wife of Shahzada Dawood, has shared fond memories of her husband and son, Suleman, who died when their submersible imploded in the North Atlantic during a deep dive to the Titanic wreck last week.

The Dawood family has also announced that a virtual prayer for the deceased will be held today (Tuesday). Ms Dawood’s 17-minute-long sombre interview with BBC was published on Monday. It was filled with anecdotes about the victims’ interests, their personalities and how she and her teenage daughter were coping with the immense grief.

She told BBC’s Nomia Iqbal that she and her daughter were on board the vessel from which the submersible was dropped into the ocean.

“The sentence ‘We lost comm’ I think that would be the sentence I wouldn’t want to hear in my life again,” she said about the moment when the submersible lost connection following the descent.

However, she added that she remained hopeful that the submersible would surface by losing weight or through any other technique applied during such a scenario.

She lost hope after the 96 hours mark as the submersible was believed to have oxygen for four days. “I sent a message to my family that I’m preparing for the worst.”

Talking about her husband, Ms Dawood, who was born in Germany, said she met him at university. “He was so fascinated by German history. He knew more about German history than I did.”

She recalled her son Suleman’s interest in solving the Rubik’s Cube, saying that “he wouldn’t go anywhere without it”.

He had solved the cube in 12 seconds, which was his personal best, and wanted to set a record by solving the puzzle at the most depth. “He was so excited about it.”

When asked about how she and her daughter were coping with grief and hope to find closure, Ms Dawood said her husband started many “amazing projects” and she and her daughter would continue them as part of his legacy. Ms Dawood said she and her daughter will try to learn to solve the Rubik’s Cube in Suleman’s honour.

According to an announcement by the family, the virtual prayer will take place today (Tuesday) at 6:30pm and broadcast live on The Dawood Foundation’s YouTube channel.

The family has requested to join and pray for the deceased.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2023