That's the thing that people on here aren't understanding...it's not about money or the value of the guitar, or the cost of replacement or anything like that. As a musician many will have a special connection with an instrument and the way that it plays. It may be a certain comfort level that is there. Damage like that, even when repaired will completely change the instrument. Maybe there were certain dead spots on the neck that he loved because he could mute the strings a certain way. Maybe the intonation was slightly off in a way that he really liked. Maybe the action was just right on it, and it had taken years of setups to get it just the way he liked. All of this could be gone with damage like that, even when it is "repaired" (which depending on the damage could mean a replacement neck which makes it a completely different instrument, or wood that needs to be glued which will change the way it resonates, and at the minimum it will have thrown off his setup.