All births are different. Some people have easy-as-pie vaginal deliveries, while others have traumatic ones with complications. Some people have great recoveries from c-sections, others have horror stories to tell. There are risks with both, and it's a personal choice your friend and her doctor will have to make together.
The bottom line with something like this is that we can't really decide for someone, and that you'll get horror stories and pleasant stories from both types of deliveries.
As for me, I had a breech baby with DD1 and had a great, easy c-section recovery. It wasn't a walk in the park or anything, but it was much better than I had expected it would be. I followed the Dr.'s orders and tried to keep my meds going so I was comfortable. I was a successful breastfeeder for 1 year and didn't feel like I missed out on any bonding with my daughter. I held her after 20 minutes, and my husband held her before that.