Absolutely true - been there, seen a kid there. But the fact is, it would have been better, in that kid’s situation, to have taken the incomplete, rather than the withdrawal. They eventually got physically well enough to continue on and finish with a flourish. They realized, too late, that they could have gotten the credit and continued on that pathway, had they taken an incomplete instead of a withdrawal.
I’d say that if there’s no hope of the student becoming serious about the work over the summer, better to try for the medical withdrawal and erase the record, and do something else until they’ve grown up enough to start over again, probably while living at home for parental “support”, at your local 4 yr state college. But if OP feels that student could definitely finish it up this summer, would settle down to do the work as soon as they get home, then it’s definitely an option. Might even be possible for student to try again in the fall, at that school, with a contract in place and close academic support.