I don't even remember how his spine was damaged, actually. He was my first legendary and one of the original seven, along with the one who eventually became mayor.
As for organization - I've actually developed an abbreviation system for every possible labor need (except military, as most of my military dwarves are full time elite wrestlers training in other weapons) and just titled them accordingly. The title is used to determine what labors I would need to use them for, with asterisks around the abbreviation if they're especially skilled in it. All the labors in the title are not turned on at once - usually just one or two. But if I need a job done specifically I scan through my list for Dorfs who are titled with the labor put them on the job.
As an example:
Imush Cinonathel, WcMiFaMsArcHaul-RFu
Imush is a Woodcutter, Miner, Farmer, Mason, Architect (all my masons are also Architects), and a hauler of Refuse and Furniture. Since my legendary woodcutter is currently my mayor, I use this one as backup.
I figured, it was either develop a system, or get frustrated and quit the game, because once my population reached over 100 I couldn't micromanage them anymore without getting it all mixed up. A lot of people have a lot of different potential jobs just because it's hard to have enough specialists to do everything needed and keep everyone busy.