I will chime in for you but I am not a lawyer and YMMV as always. My first advice would be to get a free consultation with a BK attorney  

I had a semi similar case. I used to be very good credit wise and a job that I thought would last forever. Unfortunatly the company was sold and all upper management was let go the next day. After losing my job and falling behind FAST because the debt I had was built on a six figure income. I got very stressed out to say the least and got three ulcers due to it. I was hospitalized for over a week while having tubes shoved in and out of all holes to take biopsies. I did not have insurance and there was NO way I was going to catch up at that point. I got notice a couple years later that they were going to take me to court for my debt. Being so young and wanting a house in the near future I decided to see a BK layer. I didnt want to be older when I finally decided to start over and get things in order. I wanted to take advantage of being young and having an edge on restarting fresh. I filed bk7 in July and was discharged in October. I am now well on my way to rebuilding and very relieved. I wouldnt change a single thing about my choices just to have this major weight lifted. As always YMMV and he may have other options. I just wanted to share experience rather then tell you what he should do.