My phone just ate my card

I'm still running 2.1 (damn Orange) and I switched my phone off completely to see if a reboot would trigger me getting a notification for the 2.2 update. Yes I was clutching at straws......
Anyway, when the phone came back up - I got the damaged SD card error message. I haven't ever connected this phone to a PC. I tried rebooting again, and reseating the card but no go. The card was an 8gb one I bought separately from the phone.