crider

Okay, so my friend (who is also a senior this year) has been in JROTC all 4 years at our high school, has held high leadership positions, (I think XO?), and all sorts of things that have made him a stand-out student.
He applied to all of the academies, plus the ROTC scholarships.
He has received a rotc scholarship to Embry-Riddle engineering, the Air force rotc scholarship, and an appointment to the Coast Guard Academy thus far.
However, over the weekend, he was sent an email that basically said that since he had suffered a hernia when he was 2 weeks old, he cannot serve in the military, and therefore lost EVERYTHING.
This kid is an athlete, and has never had any health problems. I just feel like the whole situation is ridiculous...Especially since they waited this long to let him know! He received the rotc/coast scholarships early on in the application process, so he was pretty much set. I think he applied to one backup school. (I mean if I had gotten a couple full rides, I wouldn't have bothered applying to many others either!) I feel terrible because he worked his butt off for 4 years to get those scholarships and appointments...and then they were just ripped out from under him.

Sorry for the rant. I guess moral of the story would be to apply to other schools. And don't depend on anything when it comes to money.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? And any advice for him?