Woman who lost son and husband in Titan sub tragedy explains why she’s not angry about the disaster
Topics: Titan submersible, Good Morning Britain, ITV, Titanic
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/ Good Morning Britain
Topics: Titan submersible, Good Morning Britain, ITV, Titanic
A woman who lost her son and husband onboard the Titan submarine has said she’s ‘not angry’ about the devastating ordeal.
On June 18 2023, OceanGate’s Titan submersible attempted to dive 3800 meters below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean to the Titanic wreck site.
Christine’s son, Suleman Dawood, and her husband, Shazarda were onboard the submersible when it tragically imploded. Christine stayed on on the ship with her daughter, Alina, hoping her husband and son would surface.
The Titan submersible lost communication with the mothership, the Polar Prince just over 1 hour into its descent. It was reported the ship had 96 Hours of oxygen, providing hope for Christine and others.
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However, it was later discovered the sub had imploded shortly after it had gone down. Chief executive of the company responsible for the vessel, Stockton Rush, French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British adventurer Hamish Harding and Shahzada and Suleman all tragically lost their lives.
It was ruled by investigators that the vessel’s unique carbon fibre hole had imploded. Ocean Gate shut down following the incident.
Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain today, May 11, Christine Dawood told presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls that despite everything, she ‘wasn’t angry’ about the disaster.
“I don’t think I will ever be able to make sense of it,” she said. “But it’s my way of processing through it, and an attempt to move forward.”
Christine recalled herself and her husband seeing the advert for OceanGate during lockdown, with her husband greatly interested.
Host Ed Balls asked Christine how she manages ‘not to be angry’ at OceanGate, despite investigations and documentaries ‘pointing the finger’ at the company.
“Because what would it serve?” she asked. “What would the anger serve? Anger is part of grief. If you go through the grief cycle, anger is part of it, but it’s just part of it."
“I don’t want to get stuck in it. It’s part of a whole circle where you have to move on, and it’s not good for me.
Balls then asked Christine if she had an ‘angry phase,' as she admitted she had her moments of anger.
“At the world, at myself, at anything,” she admitted. “But I don’t want to reside in that anger, because there’s so much I can still do to help others.
“There are other people to live for, and if I’m in this bitter and angry phase then people will stop talking to me, and I love talking to people!”
“It’s not helpful to me,” she said.
Christine said she felt like she should have been warned what could have gone wrong with the sub before the trip took place, claiming that ‘everything was hidden’.
A report from The U.S. Coast Guard found that the accident could have been prevented, and was partially the result of a ‘toxic workplace culture’ and ‘intimidation tactics’ at OceanGate.
The report also found OceanGate had 'critically flawed' safety practices.
Christine has now released a book titled 96 Hours, detailing her devastating experience.