USB disconnected while document was live; saved document now corrupt. How do I retrieve document?

[MaxB]

Hi,



I was working on my dissertation the other day. Occasionally, I receive an error message saying that my USB has been disconnected when I leave the area for a period of time but leave the USB plugged in. This happened to be the case the other day while my dissertation was still live. I removed and reconnected the USB, made some final changes to the dissertation, and then saved the newest dissertation over the previous version on the USB. The file is now corrupt. The file is a .docx for Mac (v. 16.26); I am running a MacBook Pro (macOS Mojave, v. 10.14.5).

I hardly save anything to my physical laptop such that I work directly off the USB. I back this USB to a hard drive. Unfortunately, the former may not be the best route to take (I now have learned) and the latter did not occur prior to the dissertation changes described above (I'm left with a significant loss in work now). The IT department at University likely has nothing on the help someone here could lend.

Please advise!

Much obliged,
Max