There's plenty of guys his age (and older) getting around in choppers that the have learnt to fly late in life, HOWEVER make sure he goes and gets his medical before he starts!
I knew of a guy who bought a chopper, started training, spent craploads, only to find out that he couldn't get a medical because he is diabetic! Sounds simple I know, but for someone who knows little about aviation, an easy mistake to make.
If you had a PPL from memory it's around 38 hours to convert to rotary, so add that to the minimum 40, say 60 he'd need to get fixed wing.