The hard drive should be able to be extracted and put into a USB enclosure easily, while your wife watches. The machine shouldn't need to be turned on, and the contents of the hard drive shouldn't need to be accessed for this to work.
You and your wife may also be able to do this yourselves. Here's a link to a USB / SATA enclosure (you should verify what type of drive she has before you buy this, but it's probably SATA, unless it's very, very old): https://www.amazon.com/ikuai-Offline-Function-External-Supported/dp/B083W6YBPW/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=FTWVlp5N5QNWudz2x9K8gg&hsa_cr_id=7875115270801&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_1
You should also be able to find guides for how to remove your hard drive online. Good luck :)