Strokes can have massive effects on the body and mind, and are known to be occasionally transformative. Perhaps none more-so than the stroke experienced by Chris Birch during a rugby training incident in Wales. Birch,26, claims to have woken up after suffering a stroke feeling very different, and that the incident had turned him into a gay man. He was engaged to his girlfriend at the time.

The metamorphosis Birch experienced after his stroke led him to break up with his fiancee, and leave his banking job to train as a hairdresser. He now has a 19-year-old boyfriend.

He says, “I was gay when I woke up and I still am. It sounds strange but when I came round I immediately felt different… Suddenly, I hated everything about my old life. I didn’t get on with my friends, I hated sport and found my job boring.”

The  likely explanation? During a stroke, the blood flow to the brain is cut off and can force the organ to make significant – and sometimes surprising – new neural connections during recovery. These can include sudden knowledge of a language, or a different sexual preference.

Glad to hear that Chris sounds happy now.

[Source: IOL]