If you’ve been around the local music scene for the past few years, you most likely have encountered Jeffrey Saenz, either as a singer-songwriter and band leader, playing guitar onstage at Adair’s, or maybe you’ve come across him via his work as a producer and engineer at the studio he owns, Modern Electric Sound Recorders. Leon Bridges and Paul Cauthen have recorded there, among others. In both instances, his hands are vital to what he does.
A couple of nights ago, Saenz went outside into his yard to investigate a noise. It had been storming earlier in the week, but it was clear that day. In the dark, he ended up grabbing onto a downed power line. His partner, Monica Cooper, managed to free his hands with a broom handle — and the help of two neighbors, who heard her screams and came to assist her in getting the line off of Saenz — and got a fire blanket over him, saving his life. But he’s in the hospital now, with a broken shoulder and third-degree burns covering 25 percent of his body. The worst is his hands, which suffered fourth-degree burns.
Doctors are working to save them, and there is hope—there is a still a pulse detected below the wrist, I’m told. But Cooper and his family (they have a toddler daughter, Lola, and Cooper has a teen son, Jude) need help, with medical bills and just getting through the day to day. Donations for medical and food expenses can be made here at Meal Train, or through Venmo here.
[Editor’s note: the description of the incident has been edited to more accurately reflect what happened.]
