MacBook No Longer Recognizes WD External Hard Drive

I've trying to back up to my WD 1tb external hard drive, but my MacBook (2009) doesn't recognize it, which is strange because I've never had this problem before. I tried opening Disk Utilities but it doesn't show up there, either. I guess it's possible this is an issue with the drive, but like I said, I've never had a problem with it before and it seems to turn on fine when I plug it in. Currently running OS X 10.9.5. Really sorry if this is vague, I'm pretty lost and really desperate because I had a lot of important files saved on that backup disc. Any thoughts or advice would be really appreciated!

The WD hard drive itself is probably fine, the enclosure has likely failed. WD externals are notorius for cheap enclosures failing. Try a different cable first. You can take the drive out and install it in a better enclosure, like one from OWC.
http://eshop.macsales.com/

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