These Were the 15 Most Heartbreaking Parenting Headlines of 2016

The body of a 2-year-old child — who had been missing after being dragged into the water by an alligator at a Walt Disney World resort — was found dead in June. After an overnight search for the boy — identified as Lane Graves — was unsuccessful, officials reported his remains had been identified roughly 15 hours after rescue attempts began.

"I normally would not post something this personal, but I do not remember the last time I felt so justly upset," starts Jessica Coakley Martinez in a post to Facebook from London Heathrow Airport, where she was forced to dispose of 500 ounces of pumped breast milk in April. Aviation security informed Martinez that though she'd passed through several countries' airports over the course of two weeks with the frozen-solid milk, it "might at some future time become a liquid," which violates the Civil Aviation rule.

A grieving Australian mother's heartbreaking video of her 4-week-old son gasping for air served as a warning for expectant parents everywhere. The video shows baby Riley suffering the consequences of whooping cough three days before his death as the illness took over his body.

"I have always kept these videos to myself, as it makes my blood run cold listening to my beautiful boy cough like that," Catherine wrote in an emotional post to her son's tribute page. "But we are sharing this in the hopes that it will convince just one more pregnant mum to protect their baby from this disease. I wish I had known about pregnancy vaccination when I was pregnant with Riley."

When Bob Cornelius went to his youngest son's back-to-school night, he stopped to admire the projects displayed on the wall. He spotted his little boy's assignment and hurriedly snapped a proud photo of a completed questionnaire.

However, when Bob took a second look at the image later that night, he realized something heartbreaking. Along with filling out his favorite food and sport, Christopher matter-of-factly answered who some of his friends are: "No one."

Gabriel Marshall and his dad, Josh, first stole hearts across the internet when they shared a photo of the father-son duo rocking matching scars along with the heartwarming story behind it.

Gabriel had undergone brain surgery to fight a malignant brain tumor and when his dad learned that his son was self-conscious about the scar above his ear, Josh decided to get an identical version tattooed on his head. However, now Gabriel is the one giving his dad strength after learning that six months later, his cancer is back.

An awful car crash in Tacoma, WA, could have ended in serious tragedy in January, but due to proper car seat installation, two children — and their mom — are doing so much better than the photos suggest.

Kylee Barrett was taking her 5-year-old son, Kolton, to school one morning with her 2-year-old, Hunter, also in tow when the car hit a patch of black ice. As the car slid, Barrett swerved to avoid hitting another car head-on, which forced them into a tree that crushed Hunter's side of the car.

Another toddler tragically passed away after being forgotten in a hot car, but this time the father who left him is serving as a stark reminder to all parents — that it can happen to anyone, even a parent whose career is to save lives.

Troy Whitaker, a Florida firefighter, was charged with the death of his 23-month-old son after forgetting the child in his truck for eight hours this Summer. According to a spokesperson for the sheriff, Kavontae Smalls, Troy left in the morning with his 5-year-old daughter and little boy but forgot to drop the toddler off at day care after taking his daughter to school.

When Vinny Desautels was just 5 years old, he decided that he wanted to grow out his hair — he wanted it long enough so that he could donate it to a charity (Wigs For Kids) that makes wigs for child cancer patients. Though he endured teasing and was often mistaken for a girl, Vinny worked toward his goal for two years before his locks met the requirement for donation. Now, after dedicating a huge portion of his short life to helping kids with cancer, Vinny has received a devastating diagnosis: aggressive stage-four cancer in his hipbones and eye.

When 11-year-old Oakley Debbs ate a piece of cake over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, his family had no idea that it had the potential to kill him.

Oakley had a peanut allergy and when he realized his mistake, his family was alarmed but gave him Benadryl, which seemed to do the trick. His mom, Merrill, explained that the allergy medicine had always worked in the past after an accidental consumption of nuts. She also shared that he felt "great" for the rest of the evening after taking the medicine. However, his condition took a drastic turn later that night and he went from playing with cousins and his twin sister to vomiting. Within minutes the child could no longer breathe.

After suffering a miscarriage in June, Married at First Sight star Jamie Otis opened up about her loss in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. "October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month," she opened her note alongside the black-and-white photo above. "I can't sleep well tonight so I blogged about my sweet boy, Johnathan Edward. I realize there is a great stigma associated with sharing photos of your baby who was born too early and has already gone to heaven, so I want to say sorry if this offends you. However, if there's one thing my husband has taught me it's this: don't live life trying NOT to offend anyone and trying to please everyone."

For Alison Johnson, mom to then-18-month-old twins Caleb and Libby, placing her children's cribs side by side along the same wall was a no-brainer, as many moms of multiples want their babies to sleep close at night. But what almost happened to her son back in April made her rethink her nursery setup.

Shortly after putting Caleb down for a nap one afternoon, Johnson heard him crying. She waited a few minutes, and when she went in to check on him, she found a horrifying situation — Caleb had climbed out of his crib, his body had slid into the space between his and Libby's crib, and he was struggling to hold himself up by his arms. Had his little arms slipped through the crack as well, he would have been hanging by his head.

"I took this picture because initially I thought it was funny." That's how Michigan mom Stacey Wehrman Feeley began a Facebook post, centered on an image of her young daughter standing on their bathroom toilet.

But the instant her child told her what she was actually doing, Feeley broke down in tears. "She was practicing for a lockdown drill at her preschool and what you should do if you are stuck in a bathroom," she wrote. "At that moment, all innocence I thought my three-year-old possessed was gone."

As a photographer, Andy Whelan understands the importance of capturing the truth of any situation, even if it isn't always a pleasant sight. The hardest photo he has ever taken was of his own daughter in October, after they were given the news that she most likely only had weeks to live. At just 4 years old, Jessica waged a difficult war against stage-four neuroblastoma and has since sadly passed away.

Impossibly cute and charismatic 16-month-old Asher Nash made the rounds on the internet in October after his mother, Meagan, turned a negative experience into a positive message. When Meagan submitted photos of Asher to a modeling agency to be passed to OshKosh, the sweet boy was turned down by the agency, which told Meagan that OshKosh hadn't "requested a special needs baby."

Nearly four years after their 3-year-old son accidentally shot himself with his father's gun, Mark and Melissa Easter shared their devastating story to emphasize that this tragedy could happen to anyone. In March 2013 Michael Easter was home with his mom and two older sisters — and alone for less than three minutes — when Melissa heard the gunshot that would change their lives forever, causing them to relive the mistakes they made in regards to gun safety every single day.