Did a Stroke Cause This Man to Become Gay Overnight?

For most, a broken neck followed by a stroke spells serious travesty, if not death. But Chris Birch, 26 years old and a former rugby player in the U.K., says he wouldn't turn back time if he had to with regard to the accident.

The Daily Mail has more from Birch:

"I think I'm happier than ever, so I don't regret the accident.

[...]

I wouldn't change a thing."

What was so life changing and positive about what usually would have been a devastating accident? When Birch woke up in the hospital after the stroke, he said he had turned gay.

According to the Daily Mail, Birch was trying to show off with a back flip to his friends while in the gym, when he landed incorrectly and broke his neck. When he came to in the hospital, he said he felt completely different and was no longer interested in women, including his girlfriend with whom he had planned to settle down with:

"Suddenly, I hated everything about my old life. I didn't get on with my friends, I hated sport and found my job boring.

I started to take more pride in my appearance, bleached my hair and started working out.

I went from a 19st skinhead to a 11st preened man.

People I used to know barely recognized me and with my new look I became even more confident."

Birch's neurologist is reported as saying the stroke opened up a different part of his brain. According to the American Stroke Association's website, emotional and behavioral changes are common -- along with the many physical impairments that are associated with strokes, which Birch seems to have been spared from.