Mum who lost her husband and son on Titan submersible issues plea one year after their tragic deaths
A year ago today (18 June) OceanGate's Titan submersible went missing with five people on board.
The vessel had been diving down to the wreckage of the Titanic, but the sub itself had faced serious safety concerns from experts and five people died because of it.
OceanGate boss Stockton Rush, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, businessman Hamish Harding and father and son duo Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were those who died on board the Titan.
After contact was lost with the vessel it prompted a massive search and rescue effort as the clock ticked down to when the sub would run out of air, with a rhythmic banging noise giving some people hope that they might simply be trapped underwater.
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Experts stressed that they didn't know what the banging was and debris from the sub was later found, which pointed towards a catastrophic implosion killing all on board shortly after contact was lost.
Christine Dawood, the wife of Shahzada and mum to Suleman, commemorated the anniversary of the doomed sub's disappearance and posted pictures of two lit candles.
She also urged others to do something similar if they were missing dear people in their lives.
Writing on Facebook, she said: "When people pass, they take a piece of you with them.
"As the one-year anniversary is coming closer, I'm reflecting back on a time that nearly broke me, and yet the love and support I've received was, and still is, so huge that I can't feel anything but being grateful.
"I miss them every day, every hour, every minute, they will never be replaced. With these candles, I'd like to send their light to anyone who's open enough to receive it.
"I'd like to thank everyone for their love and prayers. I felt them and they helped.
"Light a candle for the missing people in your life and send their light into the world."
She had previously said she had 'complicated' feelings about the Titan sub disaster, saying that Stockton Rush was 'not my favourite person in this mess'.
"Alina and I went on deck. Until that moment we'd had hope," Christine said of the moment she knew her husband and son would not resurface.
"We took some cushions with us and just sat there looking out at the ocean. We were both crying.
"I turned to her and said: 'I'm a widow now.' She said: 'Yes, and I'm a single child.' Then we cried even more.
"It's the waking up every morning that's . . . sometimes I still don't believe it.
"The possibility of it [Titan] imploding never crossed our minds. To lose a husband is terrible, but when you lose a child.
"I love being a mother. I have Alina, but I never wanted to be a single mother to an only child.
"No parent should have to grieve for their child. It's unnatural. All of a sudden your purpose, your identity, is ripped away from you."
Topics: Titan Submersible, Titanic, World News, Parenting
Joe Harker