i know it was like that when it came to me (about 2 weeks ago) changed the soil and made it sandy. Roots were starting to rot. But i didn't know the Family/type of this plant. Hope i can save it. Thanks for your help.

Also any tips for saving it would be appreciated

Lots of light, little water and hope.

New mix if any hope, cactus & succulent mix w/ added perlite (50%). I'd cut off any dry, brittle crunchy bits as well.

That soil is too water rententive, get rid of anything w/ sand, it almost insures root rot. Sorry, unclear if it's worth the effort, it's been very neglected.

If the roots/stem were rotting, it may not recover. Cuttings may be a way to save it.

They root easily, you can cut off the ends and plant them or put in water.

Yes they do. Realized I forgot to say earlier, letting cuttings dry at least overnight can decrease the chances of rotting, whether you want to try in water or soil. I've always done them in soil & have so many by now, I've given tons of them away.

This plant has tendency to grow leggy, and with not enough light - even more. The soil mix is already mentioned as not very good either.

Prune off the branches, let callus as Tiffany suggested. I wouldn't recommend to root them in water; they are better off to pot up.

These cutting were left sitting without any soil for about a week. All were potted up in well-draining mix and spent summer outdoors:

Thanks everybody, i will try 1 cutting and also try to recover mother plant lets see what happens.

Leggy is about distance between nodes (etiolated.) That shouldn't be confused with normal loss of leaves when the stem lignifies. The plant in this pic isn't leggy/etiolated, it's just older, with a woody trunk.

Tiffany, thank you for the correction. I didn't make it clear that I was referring to older trunks getting long which this plant does as it gets older. Grown indoors, it may take lots of room :) - it could grow into a nice shrub...that is not etiolation...I had one that grew to about 30"tall and almost as wide, but eventually had to be chopped up to save space.

Update 1: out of 2 cuttings, one in the water completely rotted. One in the soil seems ok for now

Some ppl root succulents in water with success, but overall it isn't the best way. Even if they root, the roots are 'water roots' and may have hard time adapting to soil once potted up. Very often, the cuttings will rot. Succulents don't need much water, why put the cuttings in it? And there is more stress by first being in water, then potting up. JMHO.

Hi Rina completely agree , i was just trying one of the suggestions as fact check. Bottom line water rooting for succulents completely ruled out once and for all

Whichever way one wants to try, letting the cuttings dry at least overnight will reduce risk of rotting. Some need a week or so for the wound to heal completely before attempting to propagate. (Any cutting that doesn't wilt is treated as a succulent, for me.)

Hi tiffany what do you mean by "treated as a succulent"

That the cuttings (or more specifically, the wounds from being cut) are allowed to dry to reduce the risk of rotting when attempting to propagate.