Christine Dawood, who lost her husband Shahzada and son Suleman in the Titan submersible implosion in June 2023, has revealed that their remains were returned to her in small boxes described as "shoeboxes."
In an interview with The Guardian published April 25, Dawood said she waited nine months before receiving what little was recovered. "Well, when I say bodies, I mean the slush that was left. They came in two small boxes, like shoeboxes," she said.
She explained that the Coast Guard had tested the remains and offered her a larger mixed pile of DNA, but she declined, requesting only what was identified as her husband and son.
Dawood has kept her husband's study and son's room untouched. Suleman's 9,090-piece Lego Titanic model remains in a glass display in the kitchen. "What was I going to do? Break it up? Hide it away? Suleman put all those hours in," she said.
She described her grief process, saying she has "learned to give it attention" by visiting Suleman's room and allowing herself to cry. "I go into Suleman's room. Sometimes I find the cat sleeping on his pillow and I sit on the bed and let the grief come," she said. "I've worked a lot on my grief for Suleman, but I'm only now starting to grieve for my husband."
The Titan submersible imploded on June 18, 2023, killing all five aboard: Shahzada Dawood, 43; Suleman Dawood, 19; OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61; British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58; and French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77. The disaster occurred 90 minutes into a dive to the Titanic wreck.