Ahh 8 years is a lot, you can try it but it might not work. I have personally used fuel that was about 5 years old and after swirling it around it was fine. The fuel's ingredients may have seperated so you might have to swirl the fuel to get the ingredients back together. One thing to check for is see if the color of the fuel looks the same as it did the day he got it. If it has changed color's or has gotten a misty look to it then I would not use it. As fuel it's self is not all that expensive and is better to just use new fuel then mess up a good engine.

Also if the fuel was not keeped in a dry place where sun could get to the fuel then I would just throw it away, it's not worth the time as the fuel loves to attract moisture and the sun also likes to evaporate the the alcohol.