Missing GoPro with final images of woman killed in Smokies found by American Airlines

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The missing GoPro camera said to have the final moments of a Texas woman who died when she was struck by a falling tree in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was found by American Airlines on Saturday.

The camera, which had been missing since the family of Laila Jiwani returned from Knoxville to Dallas on Dec. 29, was recovered by the airline, according to Ross Feinstein, who handles corporate communications for American Airlines.

"We know how important the camera was to the family, and we want to thank all of the American team members who worked extensively to locate it," Feinstein wrote in an email on Saturday.

Jiwani, who worked as a pediatrician at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, was killed on Dec. 27 while hiking along Porter Creek Trail with her husband, Taufiq Jiwani, and their three sons, according to the National Park Service. She was 46 years old.

Jiwani was struck by part of a falling tree that also injured her 6-year-old son, Jibran, who suffered a broken leg and superficial head injuries. According to a Facebook post from Taufiq Jiwani, doctors informed him that Laila saved Jibran's life by "taking the brunt of the impact."

The GoPro has not yet been returned to the Jiwani family, according to Feinstein, but American Airlines is working with the family to get it to them.

Contributing: Monica Kast and Hayes Hickman

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Missing GoPro with final images of woman killed in Smokies found by American Airlines