MacBook 13" Stuck on Loading Screen & Start-up Issues

A few days ago, after my MacBook crashed I performed a hard shutdown, afterwards my MacBook was stuck on the startup screen with the spinning gear. cmd+R hasn't helped as there appears to be nothing wrong with the disk 'apparently', therefor no repair can be made. When attempting to enter safe mode I found myself in a situation where the loading bar would disappear half-way through and after over an hour it would still be 'loading'. In attempting to repair my MacBook I have performed a few hard shutdowns which is likely to have made matters worse. Any help would be greatly appreciate - I'm currently at boarding school and desperately need help as I need my laptop for school.

I posted this message on Apple Support Communities a couple of days ago and I've had no replies. Please - any help is hugely appreciated.

Have you tried removing any third party RAM and unplug anything from the machine that doesn't need to be plugged (printer, external HDD etc).
You could also try turning it off and remove the battery for 45 minutes, replace and try again.

SM