Help Needed: Stuck on Apple Logo with loading bar

I’m in a bit of a stressful situation and could really need some help. I have a MacBook Pro Retina 15-inch (Late 2013) that was previously running macOS Big Sur. My wife has an important CELBAN and Nclex exam coming up, and unfortunately, the CELBAN exam software doesn’t support Big Sur. I had no choice but to update the macOS.

I used the latest version of OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) to install macOS Sequoia. The initial update wently smoothly, and Sequoia was installed. I did the root patches installation, but even after rebooting, my Mac still required the USB drive to reboot. I reinstalled the root patches a couple of times, but nothing worked.

Thinking I might have missed a step, I decided to start the process over. That’s where things went wrong. Now, I’m stuck with the Apple logo and a loading bar that gets stuck about halfway during the reinstallation process of Sequoia.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far: 1. Reinstalling macOS Sequioa using Internet Recovery, but I get a “no internet” error because Wi-Fi isn’t working. 2. Booting without the USB, but it won’t boot at all. 3. NVRAM and SMC resets.

I’m in a bind because I didn’t back up my data (I didn’t have another USB drive available). My wife’s exam is fast approaching, and I can’t afford to lose the data on the Mac.

Went through github FAQs on Stuck at boot logo but in terminal I can’t find the specific directory. Does anyone know how I can fix this? Any guidance would be deeply appreciated!

Thank you in advance!