(Image Source: Wales News Service/Daily Mail)

 

BY KERRY LEARY

ANCHOR EMILY SPAIN

A beer drinking, weight lifting, jock was showing off for his friends one day in England. He attempts a back flip, breaks his neck, has a stroke, and wakes up... gay? The Daily Mail has more.

"I was gay when I woke up and I still am. It sounds strange but when I came round I immediately felt different ... 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.”

Before the stroke, Chris Burch played rugby and weighed 266 pounds. A stroke and six years later he drastically lost weight and changed his appearance. Now he weighs 154 pounds - that’s a 112 pound difference. Or as Gawker puts it...

“Yes, apparently the accident kicked loose some fairy dust somewhere deep in his subconscious and Birch woke up not just gay, but entirely flaming...”

Birch’s physical appearance wasn’t the only thing that changed. He changed his career - going back to school to become a hairdresser. He also ended his relationship with his fiance - and now lives with his 19-year-old boyfriend above the salon he works in. And NBC Sports says the story would be easier to believe - if it wasn’t so cliche.

“...there are plenty of gay men who aren’t thin hairdressers. Some even play rugby ... if human sexuality is proven to be determined on a strictly neurological basis, well, that puts a lot of anti-gay fundamentalists out of business. Now, who needs a perm?”

So, is this kind transformation really possible? The Director of Communications for the U.K Stroke Association weighed in with CBS News...

"Strokes are traumatic, life-changing experiences, which can make you reassess life and your feelings so perhaps that's the reason behind it. Whether or not the stroke turned Chris gay, or whether he was gay anyway but unaware of it, his experience seems to be a positive one, which is great."

Although Birch’s family took a little while to cope with the drastic change, Birch has never looked back. He claims to be happier than ever.

Transcript by Newsy.