WhatsApp - all data lost

Hi all. My mobile is a Samsung A50 (android). I went into Whatsapp only to find I had been logged out. When I logged in and restored my data, all my data was missing. I have searched for it, looked for assistance on Google but still totally at a loss here.

My whatsapp data had very special information in it which I treasured and will try anything to retrieve it.

What is strange is that I recall Whatsapp saying it was backing up - but then we is this back up?

Any advice in this regard will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you