What would u do?

Just a random question if somebody had a 50k goverment bond that will mature in 5 years but the person holding the bond got sick and it's 50/50 chance for the person to see the mature date. By cashing the bond now u would lose 10k of the bond meaning u would only get 40k instead of the 50k full mature amount.
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Would u try to wait it out and hope u get better to get the full mature amount or would u cash out the bond and take the penalty on it?