Rumple didn’t injure himself for his son, not even a little bit. Retcon. Horrible character assassination retcon. He did for Bae and he did it because he was scared. That mix of fear and heroism has always defined Rumple, it’s what made him complex and the writers just reduced him to a singular concept: cowardice. Malarkey. Absolute malarkey.
Initially I had the same reaction, but part of me questions if Rumple was really telling the truth in that moment. It simply could have just been a desperate way to convince Belle that he was a coward, despite her believing otherwise. Perhaps he was even starting to believe in his own lies. However, Belle should have reminded him of the time he sacrificed his own life against Pan to save everyone.