The 19-year-old university student who accompanied his father on the expedition had expressed hesitation about going; his aunt, Azmeh Dawood, said in an interview Thursday, June 22, 2023.
Azmeh Dawood is the older sister of Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood. She told NBC News that her nephew, Suleman, informed a relative that he “wasn’t very up for it” and felt “terr#fied” about the trip to explore the wreckage of the Titanic.
But the 19-year-old ended up going aboard Ocean Gate’s 22-foot submersible because the trip fell over Father’s Day weekend and he was eager to please his dad, who was passionate about the lore of the Titanic, according to Azmeh.
“I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath … It’s been cr#ppling, to be honest. I feel disbelief,” Azmeh said, speaking through sobs. “It’s an unreal situation.”
The last four days were agonizing for Azmeh. She was glued to television news coverage of the hunt for the Titan, desperate for updates about her brother and nephew and fearing the worst.
“I feel like I’ve been caught in a really b@d film, with a countdown, but you didn’t know what you’re counting down to. I personally have found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking of them.
I never thought I would have an issue with drawing breath. It’s been unlike any experience I’ve ever had,” Azmeh said in a phone interview from the home in Amsterdam she shares with her husband, Jonathan.
Azmeh and Shahzada are scions of one of the most prominent corporate dynasties in Pakistan.
