Best friends canceled trip

Welcome internet traveler let's get right to it then.

My best friend for the last decade decided four years ago that she would go to Germany to attend her grandmother's (who she has never met) 90th birthday party later this year (towards mid October).

To achieve this she started working as a waitress at 15, doing the math she worked out if she saved for 4 years it should be enough to cover a 5 day trip. She also took German as an extra subject in school and hasn't shut up about her plans once she gets there.

Naturally earlier this year, her grandmother (the other one) fell, broke her hip and needed a replacement urgently. My friend's familly being unable to pay for this were prepared to take out another loan on their house.
My friend being the person she is decided she'd rather use her life savings to help her family than spoil herself.

If this number looks a tad on the high side its probably because we are located half way around the world from Germany (South Africa) so the return ticket price is rather large.

And so, here we are. I'd love to be able to tell her that she can still go, and doing this, to me, is one of the best ways to do that.