Musicians Rally Round Injured Colleague
Texas is known for its wide range of musical styles. Both local musicians and those visiting our state find it’s the perfect place to play and interact with audiences and fellow musicians. Now, after a freak electrical accident has left one of their own with his life forever changed, they are coming together to help.
Patch.com reports that founding band member of The Texas Gentlemen, Jeff Saenz, suffered life-threatening injuries from a downed 400-volt city power line that came into contact with his body.
Quick-thinking neighbors and Saenz’s fiance, Monica Cooper, were able to get the live wire off of him with a broom. They then covered Saenz with fire blankets to burn the flames over his body and called 911.
Paramedics rushed Saenz to the hospital with severe, life-threatening burns. Doctors say that he suffered third and fourth-degree burns to approximately 25 percent of his body. Since the accident, Saenz has undergone a total of six surgeries.
One of the surgeries was to amputate Jeff Saenz’s lower left arm. Another upcoming surgery is scheduled to amputate his entire right arm soon.
Business partner Beau Bedford said that despite the catastrophic injuries, Jeff remains the same in terms of his personality. Saenz asked him just before his upcoming surgery if everyone was ok.
Because Jeff has no insurance, Bedford and other area musicians have created “Jeff Fest” to help defray the medical costs. Friends, relatives, musicians, and colleagues have showed a tremendous outpouring to Jeff and his family to ensure that they won’t be alone for the long recovery ahead.
