Chris Birch

Chris Birch born c. 1986 in Ystrad Mynach, South Wales is a former rugby player who according to several sources^[1][2][3] transformed from a straight man to a gay man after he "suffered a stroke during during a freak training accident when he attempted a back flip and broke his neck".^[2] The accident was in 2005^[1] when he was 20, nearly 21.^[3]

After the accident, Birch reportedly experienced a full lifestyle change:

• He changed his appearance, grew hair and bleached it, although he was a skinhead earlier
• He started working out and went from a 19-stone (120 kg) man to an 11-stone (70 kg) man
• He stopped liking to play sports and quit rugby and stopped spending weekends playing sport and drinking with his mates
• He quit his bank job and learned to become a hairdresser
• He left his long-running girlfriend to move with a 19-year old boyfriend Jack Powell. Prior to the accident, he had been planning on settling down with his girlfriend.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Loynes, Isabelle (22 September 2011). "Having a stroke made me gay". The Daily Mirror (London: MGN Ltd). http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/09/22/having-a-stroke-made-me-gay-115875-23436853/. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Salkeld, Luke (9 November 2011). "Burly rugby player has a stroke after freak gym accident… wakes up gay and becomes a hairdresser -- A rugby-playing straight man claims he woke up homosexual after suffering a stroke". The Daily Mail (London: Associated Newspapers). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2058921/Chris-Birch-stroke-Rugby-player-wakes-gay-freak-gym-accident.html. Retrieved 11 November 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Wendy Austin. Talkback: Waking up gay BBC Radio Ulster. (10 November 2011). Podcast accessed on 19 November 2011.

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Name	Birch, Chris
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