This just goes to show how HODLing too long can cause complacency. You have to remain active in that which you believe in and even take the necessary precautions to ensure you don't lose what could amount to millions.
I think the most popular problem before the miners who have mined a lot of bitcoin, they want to keep it real but unfortunately because they are looking for some security for their bitcoin, they destroy their storage while backing it up and unfortunately, they can not back up it.
Back in those years bitcoin was not so valuable at the time, so it's okay for him not to recover it because nobody expects bitcoin to be at this stage.