I'm sorry to reply so long after this question was asked, but I had surgery for a torn MCL, and I think the fact that I the large amount of time (5 months) spent between the injury and the surgery really contributed to it not healing very well afterward. 9-12 months of surgery and rehab may seem like a pain now, but weigh that against the trouble he may have for the rest of his life if his injuries aren't taken care of. Mine didn't heal nearly as well as I had hoped it would, but it is definitely better than before the surgery and therapy.

There are some threads around here started about people who had broken their foot/feet. I would recommend digging through them (Used to be Army Strong had several on the topic, I believe) and seeing how those turned out.

I wish you both the best of luck!