Mom's heartbreaking back to school photo goes viral

BOSTON — A mom's heartbreaking back to school photo went viral on Facebook this past week when she wanted to call attention to her cause.

Julie Apicella shared two photos next to each other. One with her daughter on her first day of school last year; and one without her daughter.

The photos were dated 2015 and 2016.

"School photo time," Apicella wrote on Facebook. "Obviously someone very special missing - my daughter Emily. Imagine if your school photo this year is the LAST you will ever be able to take and will just be a memory to remember."

Emily passed away last December after a battle with kidney cancer.

Apicella posted the photos to call attention to the 1 in 285 children who will get a cancer diagnosis.

"Raising awareness of symptoms and that childhood cancer is not rare is the first hurdle to jump," she wrote.

Apicella is asking people to join a cause by turning their Facebook photos gold for September to raise awareness.

Cox Media Group