This Week's WTH- Whaaaaaat?

A former rugby player claims that after he had an accident that broke his neck and resulted in a stroke, he woke up feeling very different, and from that point forward knew he was gay.  I saw this on HuffPo's site first, but they link to a Daily Mail article.

The "nature vs. nurture" debate over sexual orientation continues at full force, but now, one former rugby-playing Welsh jock claims to have actually "woken up gay" after a gym accident led him to suffer a stroke.

As the Daily Mail is reporting, 26-year-old Chris Birch was trying to impress his friends with a back flip while training, but broke his neck and suffered a stroke. When he came to after being rushed to the hospital, Birch, who hails from South Wales, said his personality had completely changed. "It sounds strange but when I came round I immediately felt different," said Birch.

Afterwards, he saw a handsome actor and had a physical reaction that he had previously had for women. Other parts of his personality changed as well, including that he had little in common with his friends. He altered his appearance and changed his job, and no longer has much interest in sports.

I always take the Daily Mail with a grain of salt, but this does lead to some interesting ideas. The article keeps it too simple, homosexuality is surely a blend of many things, just like any other component of our psyche. Anything so complex and shared by so many people is surely a blend of genetic tendencies, environment, and life experiences.  I am more interested in what part of his brain was affected and may shed light on what physical traits influence our personality most.  He didn't "wake up gay" so much as he woke up a completely different person.  If the medical details are correct, there could be a chance to learn something new.  Personality change among stroke survivors is not impossible, but because of his age and uniqueness to the injuries that brought around the stroke it may help us understand the process better.