Anybody with only decent welding skills could easily repair that kinda' damage.
I had to slice and dice my front forks on my Bonanza project just to get the rusted/frozen up lower fork legs loose and out of the upper fork tubes for repair. I cut (split) both tubes lengthwise about 4 inches in order to get them loose enough to remove.
After I got 'em out, I simply welded the upper tubes back up and ground them smooth before refinishing.
Here it is after I welded up the cuts.
No problemo.
Don't give up so easy. Where there's a will, there's a way.
mardyn