What I am saying is I looked a lot worse than Zim did and took worse beatings than he did. Many times a few stiches and a couple of broken noses. You know how the saying goes "you should have seen the other guy".
Ok, so the mistake you are making is that you are conflating what would have happened had he not saved himself, with what happened because he saved himself.
That is, the injuries he actually suffered are not relevant. If you would come at me with a knife, I would be justified in shooting you. And then I might have no injuries at all!
Zimmerman's actual injuries are not at all relevant to the question. The question is what he reasonably believed
was going to happen.
Your injuries prove that you would not have been justified in using deadly force. The proof is that you did not, and still are alive and not dismembered.