Purple edges?
 

My friend's orchid is shriveled and purple on the edges. Is there any saving it?

A photo would be great. What kind of orchid is it?
Usually purple edges are the equivalent to tanning in humans. The plant segregates a pigment called anthocyanin (the equivalent to melanin in humans) to help it cope with high light levels. It is not a bad thing unless the light levels are too high, which can cause leaf burn.
Without a photo it might be just guessing but it seems you're giving the plant too much light.

The purple edges as they are now are ok. The plant seems dehydrated.

BTW, your plant is a phalaenopsis (aka phal).

The purple edges are OK for this orchid, a Phalaenopsis. They mean it is in bright light.

It's not getting enough water and is shriveling. There are two excellent threads here on how to take care of a Phalaenopsis orchid:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...hal-abuse.html

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ine-water.html

There seems to be some healthy roots on this one.