Mother shares heartbreaking photo of dying child to show harsh reality of cancer

Ally Parker has been documenting her 5-year-old’s battle with cancer on social media, garnering the support and solidarity of thousands of people.

Ally Parker, a mother from Florida, shared a picture of her daughter and father suffering from brain cancer and a motor neuron disease, highlighting the devastating impact of disease on relationships.

Braylynn, Parker’s daughter, was detected with brain cancer in December and given a less than 10% survival rate. (Ally Parker Facebook)

Braylynn Lawhon, from Florida, was four days away from celebrating her fifth birthday when she was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) — a highly aggressive and difficult to treat brain tumor found at the base of the brain -- in December last year.

Braylynn was detected with brain cancer in December and given a less than 10% survival rate.

Parker has been documenting Braylynn’s battle with cancer on social media, garnering the support and solidarity of thousands of people.

A photo that stood out for over 5,000 people was one of Braylynn on the hospital bed, with her grandfather wailing beside here. Parker is now faced with the prospect of having to bid goodbye to both, her daughter and father, within weeks of each other.

“We all thought that they would outlive the rest of us...and we certainly never thought that my precious little Braylynn would be the first to go. Last year was hard for us, but I can’t even begin to explain how difficult this year will be and has already been. In a few days I will have to bury this beautiful little girl. Months, maybe even weeks, later, I will have to bury my father,” Parker wrote in her Facebook post.

“Both of my heroes, gone, within the same year,” she writes.

The family had just raised enough money for Braylynn to receive treatment in Mexico. Each treatment cost $18,000 each and are delivered every 3-7 weeks, Parker said.