One of the deceased victims of the Titan submersible — which was reported to have imploded last week under the North Atlantic Ocean — Suleman Dawood wanted to make a world record of the Rubik's Cube as he took it with him to see the Titanic Wreckage.
The OceanGate Expedition-owned tourist submersible went missing on June 18, just an hour and a half after its dive into the ocean — intended to go more than 12,000ft inside near the Titanic shipwreck — with five crew members including Suleman's father Shahzada Dawood.
His father brought a camera with him onboard the submersible to capture his record-breaking moment as the 19-year-old had applied to the Guinness World Records.
Suleman's mother Christine Dawood and her daughter were on the mothership Polar Prince when it was revealed that communications with the submersible had been lost.
While speaking in an interview with the BBC, she said: "I didn't comprehend at that moment what it meant — and then it just went downhill from there," she said.
Earlier, Christine said she had planned to go with her husband to see the Titanic wreck, but it was cancelled because of the Covid pandemic.
"Then I stepped back and gave them space to set [Suleman] up because he really wanted to go," she added.
Three other people who died among the father and the son were: Stockton Rush, 61, the CEO of OceanGate which owned the Titan, British businessman Hamish Harding, 58, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, a former French navy diver and renowned explorer.
While talking about her son, Christine said Suleman loved the Rubik's Cube so much that he carried it with him everywhere, dazzling onlookers by solving the complex puzzle in 12 seconds.
"He said, I'm going to solve the Rubik's Cube 3,700 metres below the sea at the Titanic."
Her son was a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, in the UK and her husband was a member of one of the richest Pakistani families.
She said they hugged and made jokes in the moments before her husband and son boarded the Titan submersible, adding that "I was really happy for them because both of them, they really wanted to do that for a very long time."
She regarded her husband as infectiously curious about the world around him — a person who made the family watch documentaries after dinner.
"He had this ability of childlike excitement," she said.
Christine and her 17-year-old daughter, Alina, were on the mothership when the rescue operation of the US, Canada and France was underway.
“I think I lost hope when we passed the 96 hours' mark," she underlined noting that she was preparing for the worst. That's when I lost hope."
The family returned to St John's Saturday, and Sunday held a funeral prayer for Shahzada and Suleman.
Christine said she was "touched that the Imam said a prayer for all five of the men killed while adding that "she and her daughter will try to learn to finish the Rubik's Cube in Suleman's honour."
"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."
In a saddening manner, she said: "I miss them. I really, really miss them."