Unfortunately any updates to any computer devices, and they are more small computers today than phones should be backed up to other media. There are apps to do it both paid and free from the Google Play Store as well as backing up to your SD card you could have used Astro File Manager which is free to move the data to the folder of your choice and save it there on the SD.
Updates are no longer asked if you want them. They just update on their own.
Not something you like to hear but the truth all the same. In this case you learned something and it taught you a valuable lesson. That in its self will always keep you alert in the future. We all learn from past experience.
The other point here is most of these phones worked perfectly without an update, but you can read all over the internet how customers complain how they did not get Jelly Bean, Or Ice Cream Sandwich and now its Key Lime Pie for the next OS upgrade,. Yet after they get it and the phones work less than before they come in here and all over the net crying Verizon is evil and Verizon ruined my cell phone yada yada yada but Verizon did not make the OS the phone manufacturer did and only they can make a corrective update for Verizon to push out.
Vent your hostility where it really belongs, the phone maker.
