Macho rugby player has a stroke....wakes up Gay!!

EdenHazard · 09-11-2011 11:45AM

why did he have to become a hairdresser?

gcgirl · 09-11-2011 12:07PM

Screams closet case, stroke was just a ploy I'd say to come out!

Dyr · 09-11-2011 12:27PM

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Really not a surprise. The worst one is that some brain injuries casue people to lack empathy or basic human connections. Saw a guy on TV who had a minor car accident and then simply didn't care about other people. That included his wife and kids.

Would have happened to him once he hit 40 anyway

Logical Fallacy · 09-11-2011 12:44PM

If he is trying to impress the boys with his backflips then he's already gay tbh.

OneArt · 09-11-2011 12:49PM

Woho, then I should have a stroke to become not-asexual.

*grabs 10 packs of smokes*

parker kent · 09-11-2011 01:38PM

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Shocker brain injury casue people to be different

I've heard of brain injury changing accents as well. All sorts of things can happen people with brain injury. It is not as ridiculous as some are suggesting. Obviously the way the paper handled the story is ridiculous.

Ray Palmer · 09-11-2011 01:55PM

parker kent wrote: »

I've heard of brain injury changing accents as well. All sorts of things can happen people with brain injury. It is not as ridiculous as some are suggesting. Obviously the way the paper handled the story is ridiculous.

Foreign accent syndrome not massively uncommon either. Small strokes can casue it, with people waking up in the morning with unusual accents. It is permenant. Amnesia although overly used in books and films is actually much rarer and often permenant too.

It really does knock off a lot spirituality arguement as we are basically machines made of meat

minidazzler · 09-11-2011 02:00PM

How the fcuk did he lose 8 stone? Seems alot!

Ciderswigger · 09-11-2011 02:17PM

That capital g in the title threw me off course.

Wakes up Gay.... Mitchell? Byrne?

Logical Fallacy · 09-11-2011 02:33PM

parker kent wrote: »

I've heard of brain injury changing accents as well. All sorts of things can happen people with brain injury. It is not as ridiculous as some are suggesting. Obviously the way the paper handled the story is ridiculous.

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Foreign accent syndrome not massively uncommon either. Small strokes can casue it, with people waking up in the morning with unusual accents. It is permenant. Amnesia although overly used in books and films is actually much rarer and often permenant too.

It really does knock off a lot spirituality arguement as we are basically machines made of meat

I saw a TV show about a dude who was in an accident, ended up in a coma, woke up after about 8 days and was able to paint spectacularly. Before that he had no artistic desires or ability what so ever.

Brain injury is a weird fish.

ScumLord · 09-11-2011 02:34PM

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Really not a surprise. The worst one is that some brain injuries casue people to lack empathy or basic human connections. Saw a guy on TV who had a minor car accident and then simply didn't care about other people. That included his wife and kids. Just wasn't bothered if they were alive or dead. Apparently it is a common injury due to the shape of the brain cavity.

The weirdest one of them I saw is people that don't get an emotional attachment from things they see (family) but do when they hear the voice alone. A guy would swear the woman in front of him wasn't his wife (as in she feels more like an imposter posing as his wife) but if she went into the other room and called him on the phone he instantly recognises her as his wife.

KeithAFC · 09-11-2011 02:44PM

Sounds like an excuse.

Nodin · 09-11-2011 02:55PM

EdenHazard wrote: »

why did he have to become a hairdresser?

There was a vacancy and Gay Central sent him.

Sky King · 09-11-2011 02:57PM

He'll be getting a lot more strokes now.

snowy1965 · 10-11-2011 03:59AM

Bambi wrote: »

Just looking at the pictures, not only did that stroke make him gay, it turned him into a poof as well :eek:

You know this is why there are so many problems in the world still. So this guy has a hair cur that you might associate with gay people. However fact is I know many gay guys who you would never be able to tell are gay. You are looking at stereo typical gays & being rude in the process.

Stop putting people down, there is a very good quote about people in glass houses should not throw stones you know

challengemaster · 10-11-2011 04:02AM

sgb wrote: »

Wonder what medication (if any) he is on to make him better

Probably suppositories...

snowy1965 · 10-11-2011 04:10AM

I find it so sad that people are so incredibly rude about this kind of story, always mocking the people involved etc, looking for some excuse to be rude as if it is the only way they can justify their own existence.

The fact is genes can be turned on or off by the brain. This guy had a stroke, which in turn will cause a deprivation of air to the body & will cause his brain to make new pathways to keep working properly. That can of course make the brain in turn switch the guys genes around too, thus causing him to become gay when he was prior to that totally straight & not just making out that that was the case & that he was so far in the closet it wasn't true. You see what most of the people making these stupid comments do not understand is that being gay is not a chosen lifestyle, god knows I know enough gay people who tell me if they had had the choice they would have been straight due to all the rubbish they have to put up with from homophobic idiots. Rather than choice it is genetic This is why the brain can cause a change in sexual orientation

The brain is an incredible thing, capable of so much more than what people realise. Unfortunately people see stories like this & all they can do is mock & be rude instead of looking at it as the incredible story it is as to how the brain does this kind of thing which is totally stunning. I feel sorry for his fiance' though she did not deserve this & I hope that she gets over it & realises that she could have done nothing, just as he couldn't have done anything to prevent it.

Resi12 · 10-11-2011 04:13AM

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

Um.. Maybe that was waking up from having a stroke? What he woke up and looked around the room and thought "I like dick"?!?

Nobody that feminine looking 'wakes up gay'. I'm sorry, if anything he accepted it from the shock that he almost died and through that he started to live how he always wanted from there on. The stroke is an excuse and as a gay man, a horrible one. What a fool.

snowy1965 · 10-11-2011 04:21AM

Resi12 wrote: »

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

Um.. Maybe that was waking up from having a stroke? What he woke up and looked around the room and thought "I like dick"?!?

Nobody that feminine looking 'wakes up gay'. I'm sorry, if anything he accepted it from the shock that he almost died and through that he started to live how he always wanted from there on. The stroke is an excuse and as a gay man, a horrible one. What a fool.

Look at the photo of him before the accident for heavens sake! He did not look feminine at all. You obviously are a homophobic guy by your post. You have no idea about genes or about how the brain works. So you are busy putting your homophobia out there for the world to see instead. Go you, I hope your proud of yourself for being such a bigoted fool who refuses to learn things.

Saila · 10-11-2011 05:20AM

super_furry wrote: »

What did he have a stroke of?

gayness

Freddie59 · 10-11-2011 05:25AM

Immaculate Pasta wrote: »

But I thought all rugby players were gay?

I'd like to see you put that to O'Gara or o'Connell face to face. Keyboard warriors.........:p

Local-womanizer · 10-11-2011 05:33AM

snowy1965 wrote: »

Look at the photo of him before the accident for heavens sake! He did not look feminine at all. You obviously are a homophobic guy by your post. You have no idea about genes or about how the brain works. So you are busy putting your homophobia out there for the world to see instead. Go you, I hope your proud of yourself for being such a bigoted fool who refuses to learn things.

The article is such BS. He "turned" gay, left his job to become a hairdresser, and also lost weight. He took more care of his appearance, stopped drinking and watching sport! FFS such shite!!

He seems to be adhering to the homosexuals stereotype himself.

He could be gay and not have changed most stuff about his lifestyle. He more than likely just used this as an excuse to come out.

Resi12 · 10-11-2011 06:50AM

snowy1965 wrote: »

Look at the photo of him before the accident for heavens sake! He did not look feminine at all. You obviously are a homophobic guy by your post. You have no idea about genes or about how the brain works. So you are busy putting your homophobia out there for the world to see instead. Go you, I hope your proud of yourself for being such a bigoted fool who refuses to learn things.

Well first off, I am gay so no.. I am not homophobic.

So lets say, yes. The stroke made him gay. Being a gay man means he now likes men. I fail to see how a stroke also made him lose his passion for sports, get an interest in hairdressing and subsequently become a hairdresser, bleach his hair, become vain or started to work out in a gym (is it only me thinking that a rugby player should have been working out regularly anyway?) and what any of those qualities have to do with liking men or being gay?

He is basically a closet case who used this as a piss poor excuse to make some money, leave his fiance and showboat his horrible hairstyle and how a stroke didn't make him gay but a walking stereotype and that reflects badly on LGBT people which pisses me off to no end.

snowy1965 · 10-11-2011 08:57AM

Resi12 wrote: »

Well first off, I am gay so no.. I am not homophobic.

So lets say, yes. The stroke made him gay. Being a gay man means he now likes men. I fail to see how a stroke also made him lose his passion for sports, get an interest in hairdressing and subsequently become a hairdresser, bleach his hair, become vain or started to work out in a gym (is it only me thinking that a rugby player should have been working out regularly anyway?) and what any of those qualities have to do with liking men or being gay?

He is basically a closet case who used this as a piss poor excuse to make some money, leave his fiance and showboat his horrible hairstyle and how a stroke didn't make him gay but a walking stereotype and that reflects badly on LGBT people which pisses me off to no end.

Resi you have NO proof that he was a closet case at all. The stroke can make different pathways to your brain be mapped, that would cause all of the changes that you have mentioned. You see when you get something happen like a stroke that causes a lack of oxygen to the body (which of course includes the brain) then the brain has to map new path ways. This can & does totally change personalities in a lot of cases. It just depends on if you have ever worked with people who have had strokes in their lifes. If you have I can guarantee that you have seen people totally change their life when where has been no obvious reason for it. Definitely not due to the stroke as they are doing things they definitely would never have done before. Not in a way of Oh now I have to go do a sky dive either, or to realise life is for the living but just a total change.

Honestly the real change with this guy was his being gay though. His changing career was it so huge? I know an investment banker who got fed up with it at 32 so re trained to be a physiotherapist. Going to a gym again was that so strange? Same with the haircut yes it is stereotypical but some do that you know.

I am friends with many gay people & I know that they would have problems with his stereotypical typing too. However they would not be so judgmental as you have been & accuse him of being fake. Just because he pisses you off, does not give you the right to judge him & say that his story is not true. You are not god or a judge so please come on give him a break.

snowy1965 · 10-11-2011 09:01AM

Local-womanizer wrote: »

The article is such BS. He "turned" gay, left his job to become a hairdresser, and also lost weight. He took more care of his appearance, stopped drinking and watching sport! FFS such shite!!

He seems to be adhering to the homosexuals stereotype himself.

He could be gay and not have changed most stuff about his lifestyle. He more than likely just used this as an excuse to come out.

That of course is your opinion & you are welcome to it. However as I keep saying & I am starting to realise many are just too incapable to understand this if the brain was deprived of oxygen which is is in a stroke, it has to create new pathways. They show themselves in many different ways. So his becoming stereotypical the way he has is likely a result of those pathways being formed.

Yes I have friends who are gay that are stereotypical & I have friends who are gay that you definitely would never guess as being gay as they seem so butch. So to me there is no characterizing of gay people Each is different. I just do not believe that he was always gay, However that is because no one put me on earth to be judge & jury to everyone on earth.

44leto · 10-11-2011 09:20AM

There is something wrong with this story, while your sexuality is an important part of your identity, so are your memories. So even if he had a minor stroke which left no disabilities, he is not going to forget his memories, his passions, but yet he seemed to have. So you just don't have a sudden and total flip, like even his physicality changed.

Didn't Garret Thomas an international rugby player at one stage recently came out, yet he is still macho.

I don't believe this story, it is either a fabrication by your man or an omission of the full story by the daily mail for a bit of sensationalism, that paper does not like the gays and they do like to tell porkies around a story.

the_syco · 10-11-2011 09:31AM

snowy1965 wrote: »

So this guy has a hair cur that you might associate with gay people.

I take it you have not read any Daily Mail stories before?

Oh, and the blue writing is unreadable. Why do you write in blue italics, anyway? What purpose does it serve?

py2006 · 10-11-2011 04:24PM

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1109/breaking54.html?via=mr

A Welsh rugby player who suffered a stroke ditched his fiancee after claiming he woke up gay.

Chris Birch (26), has since slimmed down from 19 stone to a lithe 11 stone, retrained as a hairdresser and moved in with a teenage boyfriend.

He now works at J’s Hair Salon in Ystrad Mynach, south Wales, after giving up his job in a bank.

He was injured during a rugby training session when he attempted a back flip, broke his neck and suffered a stroke.

His parents and girlfriend endured an anxious bedside vigil waiting to discover whether he would recover.

The man who eventually emerged was different in almost every way and found he hated sport and was no longer interested in women. Plans to get married and settle down were dropped as he embarked on a new life as a gay man.

“I was gay when I woke up and I still am,” Mr Birch said today, speaking from J’s Hair Salon.

He has also detailed the life-changing impact of his stroke in a series of newspapers.

“It sounds strange but when I came round I immediately felt different. I wasn’t interested in women any more,” he is reported as saying.

“I had never been attracted to a man before - I’d never even had any gay friends. But I didn’t care about who I was before, I had to be true to my feelings.

“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 19-stone skinhead to an 11-stone preened man.”

Former Wales fullback Gareth Thomas came out as gay in December 2009.

py2006 · 10-11-2011 04:26PM

oops didn't realise there was already a thread on this! sorry!

Hygro · 10-11-2011 04:27PM

Had a stroke of what???!!

Macho rugby player has a stroke....wakes up Gay!!

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