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.
