HDD Cable Finally Failed

My 2010 13" MacBook Pro's HDD cable has finally failed. Problems started back in 2013 when I discovered that this is a common problem due to the metal case scratching off the protective layer. Covering everything with electrical tape seemed to fix things, at least until today when the computer completely froze and refused to boot afterwards, to Mac or anything else.

Sure enough, an external SATA enclosure brought everything back to life. It appears the point it has failed is where it bends under the bracket closest to the optical drive. Kind of a bad design if you ask me.

Has anyone else had this happen? Is there an easy way to extend life for another week or so apart from replacing the (expensive) cable? I'll be buying a new computer soon because of the numerous issues this computer has developed (NVidia drivers having trouble playing H264 video for example) but I need it to work for the rest of the semester (a few weeks).

Thanks all.