I don't believe this. I threw him several z-levels in an intentional cave-in, he somehow landed without further serious injury, then snapped out of 'rest'-mode, dragged his mangled body over to the other side of the cliff to grab a drink of potato wine and a slice of wolverine.
I guess he needed a reminder of how expendable he is to make him appreciate how precious life is, and stop wasting it lying around feeling sorry for himself? Whatever the case, he's still holding his pick so hopefully he plans on getting back to work at some point.
Meanwhile one of my other (and better) miners managed to fall down a hole and land on his ribcage.
At least he took the collapsed lung like a champ and didn't expect time off work. Still, I think I'll put a halt on the mining project for a while. Maybe I should just let these two retire to a relaxing twilight of stonecarving or something.
Edit: So, I decided to order some more rock dug out and see what happened.
Zasit dragged himself over there, caught up with his buddies and joined in. Of course, by the time he got there most of the work was done, but still, he gamely managed to swing his pick with his one remaining arm and do his bit. Then, once the work was done, he crawled back over the hill again and died next to the wagon/makeshift dining hall. What a trooper, he did that one last job with his dying breaths. o_o7
Now, to see how badly this upsets my four remaining miners from the start... they were all friends with him.