Restore Lost Memories: Aid for Data Recovery

It is with an incredibly heavy heart to say that my hard drive was unrecoverable by a friend...

If you don't know who I am, I'm a photographer who has only been in the field for about two years. I had stored all of my photos on a hard drive I bought off of Amazon. I've had this hard drive for about a year. A week or so before Christmas, I was researching other cloud storages and hard drives to copy my data over again... but before I left for Indiana for Christmas (the Sunday before), my hard drive was working fine. Then Monday, I drove to Indiana and brought my hard drive with me to edit... but as I plugged it in, the data just wasn't there. I have tried different cords, different computers, as well as numerous other things. My friend (Bob) took the hard drive home and attempted to do what he could to try and recover the hard drive. Unfortunately, it did not work, and now my next step is to bring it to a data recovery company.

I did currently already purchase cloud storages as well as two extra hard drives.

I don't quite expect a lot of people to understand how heartbreaking this is for me and how depressed I've been over this situation for the last couple of weeks. Those pictures were my livelihood, they were my business and what I used for advertising for sessions... they were also countless memories of me traveling to other states with my boyfriend... they were pictures of first experiences, and memories with my friends that I cannot get back. These pictures mean so much more to me than most people can comprehend. I've shed countless tears over this situation, even as I write this now... I'm just so shattered.

So I made this because a data recovery company is my last hope, but due to the complexity of the hard drive and how messed up the hard drive was, this won't be a cheap endeavor... It will cost me $995. Unfortunately, I am dealing with some financial hardships and have been trying to advertise for sessions and make extra money where I can.

I don't need any birthday gifts this year, or Christmas gifts, or any other gifts... I just want my pictures back. I just really want my photos back, my memories, all of my hard work...

Anything helps... anything is appreciated. Even if all you can afford is $1, or share this for me.

Anything extra that comes from this will go towards upgrading my computer / funding my storage.

I have prints available as well as offering sessions to help cover costs.

Thank you for reading...

I really hope to get this fixed, as it's left me with an unbearably crushed heart lately.