Unfortunately, there is not any relief targeted to situations like the one you describe. However, if he also took a withdrawal from an IRA it may be possible to spread the income from that distribution over 3 years instead of reporting it all as 2020 income.
If that doesn't apply, the next best thing that I can think of is to set up an installment plan to take care of the tax bill so that you aren't forced to take a distribution to cover the taxes, further compounding the situation.
TurboTax can help you set this up in the final steps of filing the tax return, or you can set it up independently here: IRS Installment Agreement Application (online). While there are some interest and penalties associated with these plans, it can often be the better option, particularly for those in retirement whose funds are primarily in tax-deferred vehicles such as IRAs and the like.
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