Disc stuck in Apple External Disc player

I have an iMac OS Mojave 10.14.6. I have a model A1379 external disc player. Stuck inside it is a CD with Office:mac 2011 home and student.

I recently upgraded to Office for Mac 2019 but not without a lot of trouble. I initially purchased an online version which I had major trouble installing. The mob I bought it from were very helpful and suggested that I uninstall the 2011 version, which I did. I was still unable to install the 2019 version. I was then left in the position of having NO Office software. I could look at my existing documents but could not edit, save or print anything. So I thought maybe I could re-install the 2011 version. I put the cd in the external disc player and got the spinning wheel of death. My Mac became completely unresponsive to anything. The only thing I could do was to turn my computer off with the button in the back. I then unplugged the A1379 and restarted my Mac - everything worked fine. I then plugged the A1379 back in and AGAIN got the spinning wheel. I have gone through this process 5 times, always with the same result. My Mac is completely unusable with the external disc player while the cd is in it.

There is no obvious way to open the cd drive.

I don't know what to do. Can anybody out there help me.

Kind regards,

KM in Nowra

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