Chris BirchA stroke turned a butch British rugby player gay, the Daily Mail claims.
Chris Birch, 26, a Welsh bank clerk, broke his neck while attempting a back flip and then suffered a stroke, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.
When he woke up, he told his family he had changed.
"It sounds strange, but when I came round, I immediately felt different," Birch told the paper. "I wasn't interested in women any more. I was definitely gay. I had never been attracted to a man before - I'd never even had any gay friends."
He quit his job, dropped his old friends, and began studying hairdressing, the Daily Mail reported.
Birch lost 110 pounds, cut his hair and started dating men.
The London Mirror, which first carried the story in September, said Birch’s accident took place in 2005 after Birch broke up with his fiance.
Birch spent months in recovery.
“I had to learn to walk, eat, even speak again and all my family were supporting me, hoping they would see the old Chris come back soon enough,” he told the Mirror.
“My old friends would come round and visit me but the conversation would dry up straightaway. I wasn’t interested in the rugby scores, going down the pub to watch football or anything else I used to do.
“Suddenly, I hated everything about my old life. I didn't get on with my friends, I hated sport and found my job boring.
“Everyone said I was more sarcastic, behaved differently and that even my mannerisms had changed, but to me the way I felt was natural. So I started avoiding seeing my old friends who wanted me to be someone I wasn’t,” he said.
Instead he began going to local dance clubs and made new friends, including one special man.
“I continued seeing this man and then one night we slept together. I knew then that I wasn’t interested in women any more. I was definitely gay,” he told the Mirror.
For the last 18 months he has been living with a 19-year-old lover above the hair salon he works in, the Mirror and Daily Mail said.
Neither paper interviewed any of Birch’s family members or friends, or any of his doctors or neurologists.
Chris Birch, 26, a Welsh bank clerk, broke his neck while attempting a back flip and then suffered a stroke, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.
When he woke up, he told his family he had changed.
"It sounds strange, but when I came round, I immediately felt different," Birch told the paper. "I wasn't interested in women any more. I was definitely gay. I had never been attracted to a man before - I'd never even had any gay friends."
He quit his job, dropped his old friends, and began studying hairdressing, the Daily Mail reported.
Birch lost 110 pounds, cut his hair and started dating men.
The London Mirror, which first carried the story in September, said Birch’s accident took place in 2005 after Birch broke up with his fiance.
Birch spent months in recovery.
“I had to learn to walk, eat, even speak again and all my family were supporting me, hoping they would see the old Chris come back soon enough,” he told the Mirror.
“My old friends would come round and visit me but the conversation would dry up straightaway. I wasn’t interested in the rugby scores, going down the pub to watch football or anything else I used to do.
“Suddenly, I hated everything about my old life. I didn't get on with my friends, I hated sport and found my job boring.
“Everyone said I was more sarcastic, behaved differently and that even my mannerisms had changed, but to me the way I felt was natural. So I started avoiding seeing my old friends who wanted me to be someone I wasn’t,” he said.
Instead he began going to local dance clubs and made new friends, including one special man.
“I continued seeing this man and then one night we slept together. I knew then that I wasn’t interested in women any more. I was definitely gay,” he told the Mirror.
For the last 18 months he has been living with a 19-year-old lover above the hair salon he works in, the Mirror and Daily Mail said.
Neither paper interviewed any of Birch’s family members or friends, or any of his doctors or neurologists.
nydailynews.com
