Arh that's unfortunate to have happened to you. Indeed we rely on technology and particular to our smartphones as Batman is with Robin. Although they are alternatives, this is the most convenient to use.

I understand what you're going through though, as i happened to me once and i lost everything.

It's been few years since then and now i have an S6 Edge - the memory is okay (so so) but i have over 500 apps installed on it, so that leaves room to a very limited memory for pictures (ahahaha i know 500+ lol) . Last year when hiking to Machu Pichu, i dropped it in the river after it bounced of from a stone while trying to take a picture . That only damaged the screen, but the thing is i wouldn't have much to loose in terms of pictures back then, because i'm forced to always move the pics out from the phone to my laptop to make space for new pictures. So is an unorthodox way for me to backup my things . Hope my experience is a helpful lesson :) .

And thank you for sharing :D .