At today's repair and parts costs it sounds like the airframe is probably toast. If he didn't have insurance I'm guessing this will be a pretty expensive lesson. Thank goodness he wasn't injured.
These kinds of accidents are a testimony to the fact that many folks are incapable of learning from the mistakes of others. A calibrated wooden paint stick and some basic math will tell a pilot everything necessary about his fuel quantity situation prior to takeoff...and the paint sticks are free!
