Depends who he owes the money to mate.........If you go personally bankrupt and you have not been Fraudulent or reckless with the money,you will generally be discharged and back to some of normality in about 12 months.........

However if you owe the money to banks,cc companies etc and they can prove you have been reckless with there money and not just got in the shit because of other circumstances the bankruptcy can last as much as 15 years...

Obviously all cases are individual so i would recommend he seeks professional advice immediately.........