It is not pleasant but now I've put it behind me and I'm moving forward. I'll go fetch the hard drive in the next couple days and you do have a good point, but the way the guy explained it to me doesn't sound like it would be recoverable by anyone - it has one point of failure and that's what failed.
My spirit isn't broken, just a bit dented. I'm finding everyone again and that's what's important. Thanks for the comment Dan, I hope you are doing well.